Children Of The Woods  Revised Chap1
by fictionalamelia
Summary: Eight cousins enter a wood where ill fate befalls them.
1. Chapter 1

The wind whistled through the ancient trees, sending leaves up into the air and animals scurrying into their burrows. The creatures of the woods paused and waited for the wind to die away before returning to their former places. The wind raced along the path and through forgotten places, eventually leaving and hurtling itself up into the sky.

A gasp escaped Amelia's lips. She clenched her teeth as her stomach was pulled in.

"Must I wear one of these?" She gasped again as Claudia pulled the strings tighter.

"Yes miss. Your mother requests you wear one." Frowning, Claudia tightened again and finished.

"You can put on the dress?" Claudia dusted her hands.

"No of course not. Help me." Amelia shook her head crossly. Then seeing Claudia's face added, "Please." Claudia sighed and gently pulled the gown over Amelia's head. She quickly and confidently buttoned up the back, curtsied and left the room. Amelia sat down on her bed and Jane wandered in.

"What do you want?"

"Why are you so cross? Mother says to pack your music books and umbrella." Heading back towards to the door, Jane turned and smugly added, "Oh and hurry up. We don't all want to be late you know." Amelia answered with a pillow thrown at Jane's head. She winced as the corset pulled her back. When she was sure Jane was well and truly gone she ran around her room trying to find her books.

"Amelia! Hurry up!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Amelia muttered. Rushing she forgot her coat.

Amelia and Jane sat across from Fredrick and Oliver in the new automobile. Their parents sat in the front driving. Caroline Day, their mother turned around.

"Everything okay? Good, let's get going then!"

The day was sunny, but Elizabeth was inside, 'watching' her brothers. She looked over the lawn. Various gardeners were working on the many garden beds and abundant trees. She only looked away from the scene when James started yelling. John had stolen his blocks yet again. Elizabeth turned back to the window. She started humming a song. Her sister Agnes watched the two boys fight with a mix of amusement and horror.

"Stop kicking me!!"

"I'm not kicking you!!"

"Get off me!!" The boys' voices steadily rose higher and higher.

"Masters, madam requests you quieten down." The butler delivered his message and quickly moved away. Once or twice those legs had been led astray. Agnes jumped back when the fight came too close. She turned when she heard her mother's footsteps.

"Hurry up! Let's go. John! James! Stop it right now and get in the car!" Jessica Parker turned to the hall mirror and pinned back stray hairs.

"Ouch! Don't punch me!!" James' voice rose higher and Jessica turned back, eyes flashing.

"What did I just say?" The two boys continued fighting.

"Gerald! Come and sort out these two." Jessica sighed and turned away. The two sisters were ushered into the car. Shortly after their brothers joined them.

"Now I want you on your best behaviour, understand?" When James didn't nod she repeated.

"Yes mum." James muttered. He gingerly touched his face where John had punched his eye. He sighed; it would be blue and black before too long.

The table was set, the silver polished and a few lollies for the children. The servants were still cooking but that was expected. Madeline Day looked at her watch. Lunch was scheduled for one o'clock. She poured herself some champagne. Jonathon had just come back from France. She smiled. He only got the best. Hearing the gravel crunching, Madeline settled herself in the back room. She smiled as the Parkers entered.

"Hello children. How are we all?"

"We're good nana." The four children walked over and each gave Madeline a kiss.

"Sit down, sit down. Hello darling." Madeline stood up and kissed Jessica.

"Hello Gerald. You are well? Good, good. Sit down." Gerald smiled.

"No it's okay Madeline, I'll stand."

Jonathon wandered in with some cups.

"Hello hello."

"Hi Pa." The Day children replied in unison.

"Who wants a drink?"

"Me please."

"Me too."

"And me."

"Thanks Pa."  
The gravel crunched again. Two minutes later Michael and Monica walked in.

"Hello Michael. Hello Monica. Sit down, sit down. Jonathon? Jonathon! Get these two a drink." Jonathon rolled his eyes and got up again. The front room got nosier as laughter and drinks were exchanged. Eliza walked in.

"Hello children. Everyone good?"

"Hi Aunty Eliza."

"Eliza, what did you do? Walk here?" Eliza made a face.

"No mum, don't' be stupid. I just got a taxi and walked up the drive."

"Oh okay then. But you need to be careful, have you heard what's been happening…" Madeline turned to Jessica and Monica. The gravel crunched once more as the Dawsons car rolled up. Two minutes later Fredrick staggered in with a combination of parcels and bags. Amelia and Jane followed with Oliver, Nicholas and Caroline half pushing them through the door.

"Hello darlings." Madeline stayed sitting. The Dawson children went through the same process as the Parkers, with lots of kissing and cups being handed around. Once everyone was settled in a chair or on the floor, Madeline got up to check the food. She shooed the servants away and busied herself with the oven. Caroline, Jessica and Eliza at different times asked to help. Madeline always refused. Finally the food was ready. A table was set in the dining room, but the children were banished to the kitchen. Amelia and Elizabeth sat with the adults. Elizabeth sat at one end of the table with Madeline. Amelia sat at the other end with Jonathon. Michael, Monica, Jessica and Gerald sat on one side with Caroline, Nicholas and Eliza on the other. There were many different conversations held at this table, many jokes and many, many good-natured arguments.

"John shut up!" Jessica yelled through to the kitchen where John seemed to be leading a game that involved lots of screaming and running.

"Elizabeth, go sort out your brothers will you?" Jessica turned away as Elizabeth pushed back her chair and walked out.

"You go as well Amelia." Caroline nodded towards the door. Amelia followed her cousin. When Amelia had walked down the passage to the kitchen, the others weren't there. She walked out to the front yard but they had disappeared. Going out the back to the orchard she saw them all staring intensely at the ground.

"What is it?" Amelia asked tentatively as she approached the children. Elizabeth was kneeling on the ground.

"We're only choosing whose 'it' stupid."

"Oh, sorry John." The two made faces and then cracked up. Elizabeth looked up.

"Want to join in?"

"Yeah sure." After several games of hide and seek, tiggy, running races, teasing the dogs and trying to catch birds, the children were bored.

"Let's explore. I haven't been here for ages." John suggested. Jane looked back at the house where the adults were still eating.

"Last one to the creek is a rotten egg." Jane yelled before sprinting off. The children didn't even look at each other before following. The creek wound around the property before leading the eight children into a small wood. Light filtered in through the trees, lighting up the path. Little birds flitted around. Oliver chased after a couple before tiring. James stopped and stared into the creek.

"Hey! There's trout!" The cousins walked on.

"Hello? This could be a good fishing place!" Only John turned back.

"Hurry up James, no one cares." The two boys ran to catch up.

The children walked among the trees, laughing and playing. The path was level and snaked around the trees, gradually taking the cousins deeper into the wood. The creek increasingly become wider and wider, eventually becoming an angry river. The rapids rose and fell, creating whirlpools and swirling around the rocks in their way. The foam on the waves twisted into different shapes, bending into unnatural positions. Oliver watched with fascination until the foam made human face shapes and became too life like. Shuddering he ran to catch up with the others. The children were so preoccupied with themselves they did not notice the trees growing denser, the light becoming darker and the path taking them further from home. It wasn't till another half hour later that they stopped in a clearing. They sat in a circle, finally noticing the cold dusk settling. Amelia shivered. Fredrick looked around. Trees, trees and more trees. He looked back in the direction of the path. He frowned and turned the other way.

"Um guys? Where's the path?" Elizabeth got up and walked back the way they had come. She kicked at the ground.

"What way did we come from?" Agnes stood up and walked over to Elizabeth.

"Didn't we come from over here?"

"Well that's what I thought too." The two girls walked around the perimeter of the clearing. Around and around, trying to find the way out. Finally their brothers got up to look as well. Then their cousins got up. The children were becoming increasingly panicked, the path was over here, no it was over here, but didn't we pass that tree. All the trees look the same stupid. Yeah but this one is different. Amelia finally cracked it at Jane.

"That tree can't be different because all the trees are the bloody same!" Jane stopped walking and sat down on a log. James started to run. He ran around and around the clearing. Kicking the dirt, and ripping up the plants that grew on the side, he felt the world close in on him. John ran across to him. He grabbed him and shook him.

"Stop it James! Don't lose it! It'll be fine. All of them are probably looking for us." James stood there, numb. Shaking he whispered.

"Yeah, but they're probably not going to be looking for us here are they?" James wrenched himself from John and they began to fight. It was then that they stumbled across the Old Man. He was kneeling on the ground, slightly removed from the clearing. The two boys literally fell on top of him. Shocked they ran back to their sisters and cousins.

He had the appearance of a homeless man. His beard was white and bushy. He wore a shabby hat and was barefoot. He seemed to be lost in his own world. A fire crackled in front of him. The river still ran beside the path. The children stared at him for what seemed an age. John, James and Fred looked at each other, nodded and started to walk towards him. Jane cried out. The three boys turned back.

"Should we really go up to him?" Jane asked. The boys snorted.

"What? He could be some criminal, or an escaped lunatic, or…" The boys laughed harder. The Old Man didn't stir. James started towards him. Elizabeth grabbed his sleeve. James looked back.

"Don't get yourself into trouble." Elizabeth frowned.

"He is on Nana and Pa's property." James sniffed. Elizabeth let go of his arm.

"Yeah, but I'm still not sure." Before she could do anything else, the three boys strolled up to the Old Man. They looked like giants standing over the Old Man. The other children looked on from a distance.

"Yeah, excuse me sir? But what are you doing here? Who are you?" John smirked. The Old Man didn't flutter an eyelid when he looked up into John's face. Bracing himself for an answer, John crossed his arms. The Old Man opened his mouth, hesitated and then closed it. He continued to stare into the fire.

"What did he say?" Agnes pulled down on Elizabeth's dress. Elizabeth pushed her off, causing the two of them and Oliver to fall slightly backwards.

"I don't know, I can't hear either." While the sisters exchanged whispers the boys were becoming impatient.

"Hello? Old Man?" Fred waved his hand in front of the Old Man's face. The movement made him look up.

Fredrick exchanged a smirk with James, but he shivered involuntarily. The Old Man looked back into the fire. The three of them watched the fire as well. Suddenly Fredrick felt a pounding start on the side on his head. He could feel the blood rushing faster and faster through his head. It moved around the perimeter of his skull ending with an explosion inside his head. A voice started whispering things to his conscience. He looked to John and James for help but they had the same expression on their faces. From behind them, they heard a scream. Fredrick spun around. Jane was running down a fork in the path. He frowned. When had that appeared? Then he saw what she was running from. It looked like a swarm of bees. He looked closer. The bees looked like people, with wings… Fredrick shook his head.

"C'mon we have to help her." He turned around to his cousins. Their eyes were wide, and their arms were pressed right to their sides, as if they were soldiers at attention. Fredrick raised his eyebrows. They were standing so still…

"Hello? C'mon, let's go!" John and James didn't move. Fredrick ran over and shoved James. He didn't even quiver. Fredrick shoved James harder. He still didn't budge. It was like his feet were glued to the ground. Fredrick turned to John. Fredrick punched him in the gut. John blinked furiously. Fredrick tried to think quickly. He turned to John.

"Can you move at all?" John blinked furiously. Fredrick put up his hands.

"Hang on. Blink once for yes, twice for no." John blinked twice. It was then Fredrick heard Jane scream again. He twisted around and ran towards the other group. Elizabeth stood there wringing her hands.

"Jane ran off she was getting chased by, by…"

"By what? I have to go after her!" Fred grabbed Elizabeth by the arms impatiently.

"But Amelia got sucked into that tree…" Elizabeth's voice started to break.

"What?! Where did Amelia go?" Fredrick's hands dug deeper into Elizabeth's skin.

"I don't really know…she was standing beside that tree. Then the next moment she had disappeared." Jane screamed again. Fredrick swore and started to pace. Jane was out in the woods somewhere being chased by, he didn't really want to think what, it was impossible. Fredrick's mind was going in all directions. He walked up and down. He turned to Oliver.

"Oliver, get off the ground." Fred growled. Elizabeth turned to him slowly.

"Another thing, Oliver just, kinda, like fell asleep."

"What?" Fredrick stood there, stunned.

"Agnes did the same thing, just out of the blue, held her head…" Elizabeth yawned.

"And then she sat down, and fell - " Elizabeth sat down and closed her eyes. Fredrick groaned. They were all useless except him. He turned to the tree where Amelia had disappeared. He knocked on the wood. He jumped when Jane's scream became higher and more frantic. Trying to not feel stupid, he talked to the tree.

"Amelia, you in there?" The branches moved with no wind. Fredrick smiled grimly.

"Are you okay?" Another movement.

"I'll be back, okay? Jane is getting killed by, well I don't know what, but it's something weird." Fredrick looked at the tree one last time and ran off in the direction of Jane. He didn't see the tree waving its branches frantically.

Amelia pressed herself against the tree. She had heard Fred's voice and started to beat crazily on the side of the tree. Nothing had seemed to happen, but Fred had spoken and said something about Jane. Amelia looked at the creature that had abducted her. He had long tangled hair, brown skin and was wearing only a pair of shorts. His feet were dirty and his teeth were gleaming in the darkness. The dryad who lived in the old oak had become lonely of late, and when he saw a group of children he took the chance, and taken one to be his friend. Amelia stood still in the cool interior of the tree. The dryad was standing on the opposite side. Amelia felt her heart beating against her rib cage. Her tongue felt dry and mammoth in her mouth. She licked her lips. The dryad was just standing there, not saying anything. Amelia fidgeted as the dryad stared and stayed silent. While the dryad was trying to figure her out, Amelia looked for a way to escape. She felt the wall. It wasn't uneven and bumpy like the bark on the outside of the tree, but smooth. She could feel the individual fibres of the tree's insides. She pulled her hand away as she felt a splinter enter her finger. The dryad walked slowly towards her. Amelia tried to disappear into the wood of the tree. The dryad continued advancing. Amelia felt her chest tightening. All of her mother's warnings were coming back to her.

Never go past the back fence, stay in sight of the house, and never enter the woods…

The dryad stopped before her. He seemed to cock his head to one side. Amelia gulped. What if this weird creature was a cannibal? Amelia's eyes widened. She didn't want to be eaten. How unseemly. Her eyes darted desperately around the tree for a way to get out, something to hit the creature with, anything. The creature stepped forward.

"What's your name?"

"What?" Amelia squawked.

"You do have a name do you?" The dryad creature seemed amused.

"Yes." Amelia bit her lip.

"Well. What is it?" The dryad braced himself. Amelia pressed herself even harder against the wall.

"I-I-I don't really want to tell you." She looked around, trying once more to find something that would help her.

The dryad raised his eyebrows. "Why ever not? If we are going to be friends I need to be able to call you something."

"What?" Amelia spluttered. The creature frowned.

"I caught you to be my friend, and you are being extremely rude, always saying 'what?' to my questions."

Amelia started to slide left across the wall. The dryad followed her. Suddenly he darted in front of her. Amelia screeched and ran the other way. The dryad was just behind. Amelia could feel his warm breath on her neck. She desperately ran around the perimeter of the tree. She didn't know if she hadn't completed one

circuit or ten. It was almost comical, the way they ran around in a circle. The dryad soon tired of the game and grabbed her dress. Amelia started to cry, big racking sobs that enveloped her body. The dryad was scared and immediately let go. He had never seen someone cry before.

"Whatever are you doing that for?"

"Because I am frightened!" Amelia replied indignantly.

"Why? There is nothing to be scared of!"

"But aren't you going to eat me?"

"Why would I want to eat you?" The dryad couldn't stop laughing.

"In the Caribbean there are islanders who eat each other. They're called cannibals." Amelia shrugged her shoulders. The dryad looked incredulous. He walked away. Amelia pulled herself off the ground. The dryad appeared again. He stood farther away from her now and seemed wary of Amelia. She looked herself up and down. She straightened her dress and tried to untangle her loose hair. The dryad stepped forward.

"I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm sorry; it's just that I wanted a friend. I am so lonely out here."

"But aren't there other creatures?"

"I am not a creature, I am a dryad!" The dryad bristled. Amelia bit her lip. She looked at the ground. Now the creature was definitely going to eat her. The dryad reached for her hand. Amelia looked up.

"Would you like some tea and cookies?" The dryad's hand was still outstretched. Amelia hesitated.

"Would it help if I promise not to eat you?" Amelia nodded gratefully and took the dryads hand.

The Naiads accession out of the water was magnificent. Their ship rose out of the water with the bow exiting first, closely followed by the mast. The water parted and the _Maginogion _rose up on the water spray, coming to rest on the rapid river. A blue man slid down off the mast and down to the anchor. Barking orders as he walked around, he didn't stop to watch them being carried out. As a group dropped the golden sails, another ran to the anchor. Heaving and pushing, they managed to push it down into the water. It sank and ran across the river bend eventually coming to rest among a nestle of rocks. The blue man stood back and let it all happen.

"We are stable Captain." The blue man turned to the speaker. He was shorter and stockier than the blue man, and had a little red cap on. He was awaiting new orders, but the Captain waved him away. His spies had told him of eight children wandering in the woods, unaccompanied by adults. He smiled. This was the perfect chance to recruit some new crewmembers. He looked to the riverbank. His eyes widened. This was almost too easy. The naiads slipped into the river. Swimming easily against the current they pulled themselves onto the riverbank. There were three children sleeping, two girls and a boy. The naiads grinned at each other. Before they could step any closer, their Captain hissed. They looked to where he pointed and jumped back. The children slept within a circle of mushrooms, a fairy domain. Their Captain hissed again and walked off. He stared around the clearing. His mouth slid into a smile, this could turn to his advantage after all.

John tried to wiggle his toes. He couldn't even flex them, let alone move them up and down. He attempted to sigh but his tongue wouldn't even budge. He tried to groan, but his throat was constricted. Inside his head he screamed, he couldn't even groan! He looked around the clearing. Something was up with his sisters. Both of them were asleep on the ground. So was Oliver. John felt the need to stamp his foot. He looked over to the Old Man. That jerk was the reason they were all like this. James had the same look of frustration on his face. John made frantic eye movements at James, the Old Man was moving! The Old Man had heaved himself up and was leaning on a tree. He seemed to be staring in the direction of Elizabeth and Agnes. John turned his eyes as quickly as he could towards them. He recoiled inside. There were _blue_ things sneaking around the girls. John turned to James and saw his eyes popping out as well. These blue things stood like people but they had webbed hands and feet and seemed to have gills on the sides on their faces. But they were breathing like humans. John could see their chests heaving. His eyes darted back to the Old Man. He seemed worried. He kept looking back at his fire and then back at the blue things. John felt his heart rise in his chest as the blue things crept closer and closer to his sister. Then suddenly one of the blue things looked right at him and James. The blue thing made a high gurgling sound and Old Man flattened himself against the tree. All the blue things now stared at where the Old Man was trying to hide. The Old Man seemed to be almost sweating. Then a weird, low-pitched sound echoed through the trees. James goggled. The blue things were laughing? He glanced at John who seemed to be as puzzled as him. They both looked at the Old Man, who now looked to be very embarrassed. James would have burst out laughing, if he could. The blue things were mocking the Old Man! The Old Man scowled at the two boys. He walked up to John. John felt the same explosion inside his head. The Old Man smirked and composed himself before walking out to the Naiads. As he walked further away the fire became smaller and smaller. John focused himself on the interchange between the Old Man and blue things. While he couldn't hear anything, he could see that the blue things had some kind of power over the Old Man. He cowered as one of the blue things frowned and spoke. James was watching the fire. It had slowly become little more than a spark. James involuntarily leaned forward. Suddenly he fell flat on his face. He glanced at the Old Man. He was too far away to notice. John was concentrating too hard on the Old Man to notice he could move. James ran up to him.

"John! Let's go!" James covered John' s mouth as he whooped with delight.

"Shut up you idiot. He might hear you!" John shook himself free.

"Okay. Where do we go?" James stared at him incredulous.

"What about Elizabeth and the others?" John bit his lip. He stared at the group of blue things and the Old Man. They didn't seem to be harming the girls and Oliver. John looked around the clearing. There was nowhere to hide. The sun fell on James' face. John looked up.

"Yes." He whispered. The two boys were no amateurs in tree climbing. Even though there were no lower branches, they could still scramble up the trunk. James was faster than John and easily reached the higher limbs. The two boys sat panting on the branch. John turned to James. They both broke into smiles and laughed. They scrambled across branches and crawled across limbs to reach the neighbouring trees.

"We'll go this way. This will lead us back to nanna and pa's." James stopped before John. John looked thoughtful before answering.

"Okay. Let's hope it's the right one!" The two boys changed their stance slightly and moved forward. It was almost fun creeping around in the foliage, but John couldn't forget his sisters somewhere down below, at the mercy of the Old Man. Why had they ever come here?

Back down on the ground, the captain of the naiads smiled. The Old Man had lost his prey. Coming back to the conversation, he frowned.

"Manawydan, you are beginning to bore me. The girls and boy are mine, you have the two boys." The Old Man shook his head.

"No, no, no. You are very much mistaken Captain Teyrnon. All of the children are mine. I trapped them and led them here. It was all my work. You cannot just take these children because I have others." The Captain smirked.

"Yes well, I do not think you are very much suited to looking after children. Those two boys have escaped

from right under your nose." The Old Man spun around and shrieked. He ran down to where his fire had nearly burnt out. The Naiads stood there laughing. Oliver blinked. Why were the others so loud? He was _trying_ to sleep. Oliver sat up, ready to yell.

"Shut up! Don't you –" Oliver gulped as he realised who was standing before him. At least a dozen blue creatures were standing around him, and laughing. Now though, they were staring down at him. Oliver jumped backwards on top of Elizabeth. She immediately woke up.

"Oliver? What the – " Elizabeth had seen the naiads. She screamed and scrambled backwards as well. She turned to Agnes.

"Aggie? Wake up. Wake up, wake up." Elizabeth started shaking Agnes. She blearily opened her eyes.

"Elizabeth? Stop it."

"You're up, okay, okay. Now stand up, stand up!" Agnes pulled herself up. The naiads stood there watching. One of the cheekier naiads waved at her and she screamed. Elizabeth tried to stand as tall as she could with Oliver clinging to her on one side and Agnes on the other. The naiads had surrounded the entire ring of mushrooms. The children pressed themselves into each other. Elizabeth could feel Oliver and Aggie's hearts racing. The tallest naiad stepped forward. Elizabeth gulped. Captain Teyrnon bowed his head slightly. Elizabeth's eyes widened and she managed a sort of twitch. One of the younger naiads sniggered before being reprimanded by an older naiad. Captain Teyrnon smiled.

"Hello young girl." Elizabeth's eyes were panning the naiads. They didn't seem to be coming any closer.

"Hello." Elizabeth croaked. Agnes shivered against her and she hugged her closer.

"My name is Captain Teyrnon and I was wondering what you are doing in woods such as these?" Captain Teyrnon added a sympathetic look to his face. Elizabeth tried to relax a little.

"Um…we were just exploring, and then that Old Man," She nodded in the direction of Manawydan.

"He just started messing around and got us into all kinds of trouble." Oliver tried to redeem himself.

The naiad raised his eyebrows. Elizabeth just shrugged.

"Well my cousin Jane, she got chased off by little bee things, and then Fred went after her. So then my brothers got frozen, and then Amelia disappeared over there, and we are just standing here." Captain Teyrnon crossed his arms. So the children didn't know they were stuck in a fairy domain. His face broke into the smallest of smiles; this could work to his advantage.

"What are your names?"

"Why?" Elizabeth started to become suspicious.

"Curiosity I guess, I do want to know who I am talking to." The captain shrugged noncommittally. Elizabeth was silent for a moment, before answering.

"I guess you did tell us your name. Well…" Elizabeth tried to stall. The captain just stood patiently. Elizabeth sighed and continued.

"I'm Elizabeth, this is my sister Agnes and my cousin Oliver."

The captain nodded compassionately.

"So what are you going to do?"

Elizabeth looked thoughtful.

"Well I guess just wait for them all to come back. I mean we can't go back to our family without them."

"You have others?" Captain Teyrnon frowned.

"Why yes. Oh course." Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and started to count off her fingers.

"There are my parents, Oliver's parents, our aunties, our uncles and our grandparents. They are all back at the house." There was a disturbance among the naiads, there were too many that would miss them. They can't take them now. Captain Teyrnon silenced them with a look. He turned back to the three children.

"Well I am sorry to burst your bubble, but if you stay where you are, you will soon be in trouble as well."

"What do you mean?" Agnes, sick of hiding behind her sister, stepped forward.

Captain Teyrnon tutted and sighed. His crew laughed behind him.

"Look where you standing." The three children looked around them. Agnes frowned. There was nothing around them but mushrooms. Nothing but mushrooms…Agnes pulled down on Elizabeth's dress.

"We're in a fairy circle Elizabeth." She whispered so quietly that Elizabeth couldn't hear at first.

"What? Speak up!" Elizabeth lowered her voice at Agnes' startled face.

"C'mon. You can tell me. What is it?"

"We are in a circle of mushrooms. A fairy circle." Agnes looked around at the naiad faces scared she had gotten it wrong. Elizabeth stood up slowly. She looked at the leader. He was tall, and his eyes were very squinty. He seemed to be very proud and he had this sly look on his face. He knew, Elizabeth almost stamped her foot; he knew what trouble they were in.

"So are you going to help us or what?" That was all Captain Teyrnon needed to hear.

Fred stopped in the middle of the path, panting. Ever since he had realized that Amelia was okay and Oliver was with the people of nod, he had been chasing Jane and he was getting no where. He had followed the fork in the road and run for almost an hour now, with no sign of Jane. Fred hadn't heard her scream for a while and this had him worried. He kept walking, not wanting to lose any distance he had made. The shrubbery around him looked so innocent, there were a couple of deer, a mother and baby grazing to his left and there were little birds flitting around everywhere. Frederick was wary though. They had all thought it was all fun and nice and look where that had got them. He grimaced.

"Jane! J-a-a-a-ane!" Fred yelled as loud as his vocal chords would allow. There was no response from the wood. He heard a scampering in the bushes, but it was only the deer running away. His face fell. How would he ever find Jane? The path went on forever and ever. Fred glanced over his shoulder. He started. The path behind him had disappeared. Fred rubbed his eyes. This could not be happening. All he could do was sigh and walk on. Fred eventually came to a small pond where the water looked clear and clean. Thirsty and tired Fred took a handful and drank. He was up to his fifth when the fairies appeared. They had snuck up behind him. One of them took human form.

"Excuse me?" The deceiving fairy tapped Fred on the shoulder. He turned, half stunned, his hand still on its way to his mouth. He soon caught himself and scrambled into standing.

"Yeah? I mean yes?"

"Why are you drinking from my pond?" The fairy stood there smiling. Fredrick raised his eyebrow.

"I didn't know it was yours. If I had known, I never would have drank from it." Fredrick tried to smile back. The fairy seemed to think for a moment before answering.

"That's what they all say." From behind her a swarm of fairies flew up. Fred's eyes widened. Was this what Jane had gone through? They all came for him at once, their stingers at the ready. Fred turned and ran. He followed the path. At first it was straight and the path smooth, but suddenly curved and the ground became rougher and more uneven. Fred's legs screamed at him as he ran further and further. Suddenly Fred tripped on a loose stone and fell to the ground. The fairies were upon him. They pierced any bare skin. Fred tried to brush them away but felt himself loosing consciousness. He tried to keep running but he couldn't get up. The last thing he saw was the smiling face of the deceitful fairy smiling down on him. Fred dreamt he was still running away from the fairies but again and again they stung him, filling his veins with their hateful poison. He fell, hitting the ground hard. Fred slowly opened his eyes. Trying to forget the nightmare he gathered his surroundings. It looked like he was in some kind of subterranean cave. Stalactites hung menacingly from the ceiling. There was a constant drip coming through the roof. Fred held his head and pushed himself onto his elbows. He looked around and saw Jane on the other side of the cavern. He stumbled over, calling her name.

"Jane!" Fred shook her, but it was clear that Jane was deeply asleep, as he had surely just been. Jane stirred beside him and mumbled, but Fred ignored it. Jane always slept talked. Fred lay down beside her. There were no fairies near by, for that was surely what those things were. There was no real explanation for it, him and Jane had been abducted by fairies. How embarrassing. Fred yawned. How John and James would laugh when they heard what had happened. Fred laid his head beside Jane. The two of them would find a secret entrance or something, that's how it alway's worked wasn't it? Fred yawned again. It would all be over soon. Hopefully. Fred's eyes started to close. He forced his eyes open one more time. He made sure the image of the cave was in his head before sleeping. He laid his arm across Jane before letting the poison work again. Talia nodded and the fairies swept down onto the floor. She kept them back before she had inspected the humans. Talia moved towards the girl child. She swept the hair off her face. She was quite small compared to the male child. Talia looked thoughtful. The two children looked very similar. She raised her eyebrows. Obviously they were brother and sister. Talia nodded and a male fairy stepped forward.

"What do you think we should do with these children?"

"What we always do?" The male fairy seemed nervous. Talia bit her lip. Something was holding her back. They had a different feeling about them. She looked around at the hungry, expectant faces.

"We wait. I am still not sure." Audible sighs and disgruntled murmurs echoed around the cave. Talia held up her hand. "We wait, or we send them back out." The fairy population all whispered together and the cave roof opened. They all flew out, a magnificent sight of wings and colour. Talia sighed. She looked back down at the children. The boy was extremely tense. She frowned, but left it. At least he knew what was coming to him. She followed her brothers and sisters out of the cave and into the woods.

Dylan smiled. It was almost too easy. He studied Amelia and sighed. She didn't seem too worried about the time. Her face was lit up with delight and she was enjoying the afternoon tea. She looked up and smiled. He half smiled back, orders were orders.

"Enjoying yourself?" Dylan clenched his teeth. Don't want her to think about anything about the present. Amelia frowned.

"Well, I'm starting to worry about my brothers and my sister. What about all my cousins too? They probably don't know where I am and I don't know if they know you took me. Well Fred knows I'm in here and he said something about Jane." Amelia frowned in concentration. Dylan drummed his fingers. She looked down.

"I don't even know what's happening out there."

Dylan sighed. He didn't want to, but ever since the trees had started whispering messages, he had no choice. He sighed again. His queen was getting very narrow minded. Amelia was waiting for an answer. He looked up and smiled wanly.

"I'll get you another tea and then we'll go looking for them, okay?" Dylan tried to smile harder and this seemed to reassure Amelia. Dylan got up and poured the tea. His hand hovered over the container before he reached inside and added the most important ingredient. Placidly he returned to the table and watched as Amelia drank herself to sleep. Dylan looked up to his tree and whispered his message back.

"You know we're stuck. Why won't you just help us get out?" Elizabeth put her hands on her hips.

"Well, you see the thing is Miss Elizabeth is that we can't do that, unless we make a deal." Captain Teyrnon scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"We don't have anything to make a deal with. There's just the three of us."

The captain shook his head.

"Oh but you do. Your brothers seemed very able and I need some new additions to my crew. Find your brothers, bring them to me and we'll let you go free."

Elizabeth was quiet for a long time.

"What if I don't?"

"Well, let's just say that isn't an option." Captain Teyrnon smiled.

Elizabeth shook her head.

"Sorry, but it is. Like I would turn in my own brothers."

The naiads murmured insults towards the children.

"Quiet!" roared Captain Teyrnon. He turned back to the three children.

"It's not as if we have to rescue you, you know. The fairies would be glad of a feast." He hadn't turned half way around before Elizabeth shouted,

"Wait! What did you say about the fairies?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that they haven't had anything to feast on for a long while…" Captain Teyrnon trailed off. He shook his head and lowered his voice.

"So what's it going to be, you or your brothers?" He smiled, but Elizabeth found no comfort in it.

She sighed unhappily. She frowned. What was this? She was bargaining with some weird creature over their lives. Captain Teyrnon sensed her discomfort. He turned to his crew.

"Get my quarters ready for a meeting." Several naiads moved towards the ship.

"The rest of you, get the ship ready for departure." The rest of the naiads moved slowly towards the ship.

Captain Teyrnon turned back to the children. Elizabeth clenched her fists. The naiad stood before her, proud and unfeeling. She looked down at her sister and cousin. They both looked back up at her, expectantly. She sighed softly and readied herself for what was coming. The wind whistled through the ancient trees, sending leaves up into the air and animals scurrying into their burrows. The creatures of the woods paused and waited for the wind to die away before returning to their former places. The wind raced along the path and through forgotten places, eventually leaving and hurtling itself up into the sky.

A gasp escaped Amelia's lips. She clenched her teeth as her stomach was pulled in.

"Must I wear one of these?" She gasped again as Claudia pulled the strings tighter.

"Yes miss. Your mother requests you wear one." Frowning, Claudia tightened again and finished.

"You can put on the dress?" Claudia dusted her hands.

"No of course not. Help me." Amelia shook her head crossly. Then seeing Claudia's face added, "Please." Claudia sighed and gently pulled the gown over Amelia's head. She quickly and confidently buttoned up the back, curtsied and left the room. Amelia sat down on her bed and Jane wandered in.

"What do you want?"

"Why are you so cross? Mother says to pack your music books and umbrella." Heading back towards to the door, Jane turned and smugly added, "Oh and hurry up. We don't all want to be late you know." Amelia answered with a pillow thrown at Jane's head. She winced as the corset pulled her back. When she was sure Jane was well and truly gone she ran around her room trying to find her books.

"Amelia! Hurry up!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Amelia muttered. Rushing she forgot her coat.

Amelia and Jane sat across from Fredrick and Oliver in the new automobile. Their parents sat in the front driving. Caroline Day, their mother turned around.

"Everything okay? Good, let's get going then!"

The day was sunny, but Elizabeth was inside, 'watching' her brothers. She looked over the lawn. Various gardeners were working on the many garden beds and abundant trees. She only looked away from the scene when James started yelling. John had stolen his blocks yet again. Elizabeth turned back to the window. She started humming a song. Her sister Agnes watched the two boys fight with a mix of amusement and horror.

"Stop kicking me!!"

"I'm not kicking you!!"

"Get off me!!" The boys' voices steadily rose higher and higher.

"Masters, madam requests you quieten down." The butler delivered his message and quickly moved away. Once or twice those legs had been led astray. Agnes jumped back when the fight came too close. She turned when she heard her mother's footsteps.

"Hurry up! Let's go. John! James! Stop it right now and get in the car!" Jessica Parker turned to the hall mirror and pinned back stray hairs.

"Ouch! Don't punch me!!" James' voice rose higher and Jessica turned back, eyes flashing.

"What did I just say?" The two boys continued fighting.

"Gerald! Come and sort out these two." Jessica sighed and turned away. The two sisters were ushered into the car. Shortly after their brothers joined them.

"Now I want you on your best behaviour, understand?" When James didn't nod she repeated.

"Yes mum." James muttered. He gingerly touched his face where John had punched his eye. He sighed; it would be blue and black before too long.

The table was set, the silver polished and a few lollies for the children. The servants were still cooking but that was expected. Madeline Day looked at her watch. Lunch was scheduled for one o'clock. She poured herself some champagne. Jonathon had just come back from France. She smiled. He only got the best. Hearing the gravel crunching, Madeline settled herself in the back room. She smiled as the Parkers entered.

"Hello children. How are we all?"

"We're good nana." The four children walked over and each gave Madeline a kiss.

"Sit down, sit down. Hello darling." Madeline stood up and kissed Jessica.

"Hello Gerald. You are well? Good, good. Sit down." Gerald smiled.

"No it's okay Madeline, I'll stand."

Jonathon wandered in with some cups.

"Hello hello."

"Hi Pa." The Day children replied in unison.

"Who wants a drink?"

"Me please."

"Me too."

"And me."

"Thanks Pa."  
The gravel crunched again. Two minutes later Michael and Monica walked in.

"Hello Michael. Hello Monica. Sit down, sit down. Jonathon? Jonathon! Get these two a drink." Jonathon rolled his eyes and got up again. The front room got nosier as laughter and drinks were exchanged. Eliza walked in.

"Hello children. Everyone good?"

"Hi Aunty Eliza."

"Eliza, what did you do? Walk here?" Eliza made a face.

"No mum, don't' be stupid. I just got a taxi and walked up the drive."

"Oh okay then. But you need to be careful, have you heard what's been happening…" Madeline turned to Jessica and Monica. The gravel crunched once more as the Dawsons car rolled up. Two minutes later Fredrick staggered in with a combination of parcels and bags. Amelia and Jane followed with Oliver, Nicholas and Caroline half pushing them through the door.

"Hello darlings." Madeline stayed sitting. The Dawson children went through the same process as the Parkers, with lots of kissing and cups being handed around. Once everyone was settled in a chair or on the floor, Madeline got up to check the food. She shooed the servants away and busied herself with the oven. Caroline, Jessica and Eliza at different times asked to help. Madeline always refused. Finally the food was ready. A table was set in the dining room, but the children were banished to the kitchen. Amelia and Elizabeth sat with the adults. Elizabeth sat at one end of the table with Madeline. Amelia sat at the other end with Jonathon. Michael, Monica, Jessica and Gerald sat on one side with Caroline, Nicholas and Eliza on the other. There were many different conversations held at this table, many jokes and many, many good-natured arguments.

"John shut up!" Jessica yelled through to the kitchen where John seemed to be leading a game that involved lots of screaming and running.

"Elizabeth, go sort out your brothers will you?" Jessica turned away as Elizabeth pushed back her chair and walked out.

"You go as well Amelia." Caroline nodded towards the door. Amelia followed her cousin. When Amelia had walked down the passage to the kitchen, the others weren't there. She walked out to the front yard but they had disappeared. Going out the back to the orchard she saw them all staring intensely at the ground.

"What is it?" Amelia asked tentatively as she approached the children. Elizabeth was kneeling on the ground.

"We're only choosing whose 'it' stupid."

"Oh, sorry John." The two made faces and then cracked up. Elizabeth looked up.

"Want to join in?"

"Yeah sure." After several games of hide and seek, tiggy, running races, teasing the dogs and trying to catch birds, the children were bored.

"Let's explore. I haven't been here for ages." John suggested. Jane looked back at the house where the adults were still eating.

"Last one to the creek is a rotten egg." Jane yelled before sprinting off. The children didn't even look at each other before following. The creek wound around the property before leading the eight children into a small wood. Light filtered in through the trees, lighting up the path. Little birds flitted around. Oliver chased after a couple before tiring. James stopped and stared into the creek.

"Hey! There's trout!" The cousins walked on.

"Hello? This could be a good fishing place!" Only John turned back.

"Hurry up James, no one cares." The two boys ran to catch up.

The children walked among the trees, laughing and playing. The path was level and snaked around the trees, gradually taking the cousins deeper into the wood. The creek increasingly become wider and wider, eventually becoming an angry river. The rapids rose and fell, creating whirlpools and swirling around the rocks in their way. The foam on the waves twisted into different shapes, bending into unnatural positions. Oliver watched with fascination until the foam made human face shapes and became too life like. Shuddering he ran to catch up with the others. The children were so preoccupied with themselves they did not notice the trees growing denser, the light becoming darker and the path taking them further from home. It wasn't till another half hour later that they stopped in a clearing. They sat in a circle, finally noticing the cold dusk settling. Amelia shivered. Fredrick looked around. Trees, trees and more trees. He looked back in the direction of the path. He frowned and turned the other way.

"Um guys? Where's the path?" Elizabeth got up and walked back the way they had come. She kicked at the ground.

"What way did we come from?" Agnes stood up and walked over to Elizabeth.

"Didn't we come from over here?"

"Well that's what I thought too." The two girls walked around the perimeter of the clearing. Around and around, trying to find the way out. Finally their brothers got up to look as well. Then their cousins got up. The children were becoming increasingly panicked, the path was over here, no it was over here, but didn't we pass that tree. All the trees look the same stupid. Yeah but this one is different. Amelia finally cracked it at Jane.

"That tree can't be different because all the trees are the bloody same!" Jane stopped walking and sat down on a log. James started to run. He ran around and around the clearing. Kicking the dirt, and ripping up the plants that grew on the side, he felt the world close in on him. John ran across to him. He grabbed him and shook him.

"Stop it James! Don't lose it! It'll be fine. All of them are probably looking for us." James stood there, numb. Shaking he whispered.

"Yeah, but they're probably not going to be looking for us here are they?" James wrenched himself from John and they began to fight. It was then that they stumbled across the Old Man. He was kneeling on the ground, slightly removed from the clearing. The two boys literally fell on top of him. Shocked they ran back to their sisters and cousins.

He had the appearance of a homeless man. His beard was white and bushy. He wore a shabby hat and was barefoot. He seemed to be lost in his own world. A fire crackled in front of him. The river still ran beside the path. The children stared at him for what seemed an age. John, James and Fred looked at each other, nodded and started to walk towards him. Jane cried out. The three boys turned back.

"Should we really go up to him?" Jane asked. The boys snorted.

"What? He could be some criminal, or an escaped lunatic, or…" The boys laughed harder. The Old Man didn't stir. James started towards him. Elizabeth grabbed his sleeve. James looked back.

"Don't get yourself into trouble." Elizabeth frowned.

"He is on Nana and Pa's property." James sniffed. Elizabeth let go of his arm.

"Yeah, but I'm still not sure." Before she could do anything else, the three boys strolled up to the Old Man. They looked like giants standing over the Old Man. The other children looked on from a distance.

"Yeah, excuse me sir? But what are you doing here? Who are you?" John smirked. The Old Man didn't flutter an eyelid when he looked up into John's face. Bracing himself for an answer, John crossed his arms. The Old Man opened his mouth, hesitated and then closed it. He continued to stare into the fire.

"What did he say?" Agnes pulled down on Elizabeth's dress. Elizabeth pushed her off, causing the two of them and Oliver to fall slightly backwards.

"I don't know, I can't hear either." While the sisters exchanged whispers the boys were becoming impatient.

"Hello? Old Man?" Fred waved his hand in front of the Old Man's face. The movement made him look up.

Fredrick exchanged a smirk with James, but he shivered involuntarily. The Old Man looked back into the fire. The three of them watched the fire as well. Suddenly Fredrick felt a pounding start on the side on his head. He could feel the blood rushing faster and faster through his head. It moved around the perimeter of his skull ending with an explosion inside his head. A voice started whispering things to his conscience. He looked to John and James for help but they had the same expression on their faces. From behind them, they heard a scream. Fredrick spun around. Jane was running down a fork in the path. He frowned. When had that appeared? Then he saw what she was running from. It looked like a swarm of bees. He looked closer. The bees looked like people, with wings… Fredrick shook his head.

"C'mon we have to help her." He turned around to his cousins. Their eyes were wide, and their arms were pressed right to their sides, as if they were soldiers at attention. Fredrick raised his eyebrows. They were standing so still…

"Hello? C'mon, let's go!" John and James didn't move. Fredrick ran over and shoved James. He didn't even quiver. Fredrick shoved James harder. He still didn't budge. It was like his feet were glued to the ground. Fredrick turned to John. Fredrick punched him in the gut. John blinked furiously. Fredrick tried to think quickly. He turned to John.

"Can you move at all?" John blinked furiously. Fredrick put up his hands.

"Hang on. Blink once for yes, twice for no." John blinked twice. It was then Fredrick heard Jane scream again. He twisted around and ran towards the other group. Elizabeth stood there wringing her hands.

"Jane ran off she was getting chased by, by…"

"By what? I have to go after her!" Fred grabbed Elizabeth by the arms impatiently.

"But Amelia got sucked into that tree…" Elizabeth's voice started to break.

"What?! Where did Amelia go?" Fredrick's hands dug deeper into Elizabeth's skin.

"I don't really know…she was standing beside that tree. Then the next moment she had disappeared." Jane screamed again. Fredrick swore and started to pace. Jane was out in the woods somewhere being chased by, he didn't really want to think what, it was impossible. Fredrick's mind was going in all directions. He walked up and down. He turned to Oliver.

"Oliver, get off the ground." Fred growled. Elizabeth turned to him slowly.

"Another thing, Oliver just, kinda, like fell asleep."

"What?" Fredrick stood there, stunned.

"Agnes did the same thing, just out of the blue, held her head…" Elizabeth yawned.

"And then she sat down, and fell - " Elizabeth sat down and closed her eyes. Fredrick groaned. They were all useless except him. He turned to the tree where Amelia had disappeared. He knocked on the wood. He jumped when Jane's scream became higher and more frantic. Trying to not feel stupid, he talked to the tree.

"Amelia, you in there?" The branches moved with no wind. Fredrick smiled grimly.

"Are you okay?" Another movement.

"I'll be back, okay? Jane is getting killed by, well I don't know what, but it's something weird." Fredrick looked at the tree one last time and ran off in the direction of Jane. He didn't see the tree waving its branches frantically.

Amelia pressed herself against the tree. She had heard Fred's voice and started to beat crazily on the side of the tree. Nothing had seemed to happen, but Fred had spoken and said something about Jane. Amelia looked at the creature that had abducted her. He had long tangled hair, brown skin and was wearing only a pair of shorts. His feet were dirty and his teeth were gleaming in the darkness. The dryad who lived in the old oak had become lonely of late, and when he saw a group of children he took the chance, and taken one to be his friend. Amelia stood still in the cool interior of the tree. The dryad was standing on the opposite side. Amelia felt her heart beating against her rib cage. Her tongue felt dry and mammoth in her mouth. She licked her lips. The dryad was just standing there, not saying anything. Amelia fidgeted as the dryad stared and stayed silent. While the dryad was trying to figure her out, Amelia looked for a way to escape. She felt the wall. It wasn't uneven and bumpy like the bark on the outside of the tree, but smooth. She could feel the individual fibres of the tree's insides. She pulled her hand away as she felt a splinter enter her finger. The dryad walked slowly towards her. Amelia tried to disappear into the wood of the tree. The dryad continued advancing. Amelia felt her chest tightening. All of her mother's warnings were coming back to her.

Never go past the back fence, stay in sight of the house, and never enter the woods…

The dryad stopped before her. He seemed to cock his head to one side. Amelia gulped. What if this weird creature was a cannibal? Amelia's eyes widened. She didn't want to be eaten. How unseemly. Her eyes darted desperately around the tree for a way to get out, something to hit the creature with, anything. The creature stepped forward.

"What's your name?"

"What?" Amelia squawked.

"You do have a name do you?" The dryad creature seemed amused.

"Yes." Amelia bit her lip.

"Well. What is it?" The dryad braced himself. Amelia pressed herself even harder against the wall.

"I-I-I don't really want to tell you." She looked around, trying once more to find something that would help her.

The dryad raised his eyebrows. "Why ever not? If we are going to be friends I need to be able to call you something."

"What?" Amelia spluttered. The creature frowned.

"I caught you to be my friend, and you are being extremely rude, always saying 'what?' to my questions."

Amelia started to slide left across the wall. The dryad followed her. Suddenly he darted in front of her. Amelia screeched and ran the other way. The dryad was just behind. Amelia could feel his warm breath on her neck. She desperately ran around the perimeter of the tree. She didn't know if she hadn't completed one

circuit or ten. It was almost comical, the way they ran around in a circle. The dryad soon tired of the game and grabbed her dress. Amelia started to cry, big racking sobs that enveloped her body. The dryad was scared and immediately let go. He had never seen someone cry before.

"Whatever are you doing that for?"

"Because I am frightened!" Amelia replied indignantly.

"Why? There is nothing to be scared of!"

"But aren't you going to eat me?"

"Why would I want to eat you?" The dryad couldn't stop laughing.

"In the Caribbean there are islanders who eat each other. They're called cannibals." Amelia shrugged her shoulders. The dryad looked incredulous. He walked away. Amelia pulled herself off the ground. The dryad appeared again. He stood farther away from her now and seemed wary of Amelia. She looked herself up and down. She straightened her dress and tried to untangle her loose hair. The dryad stepped forward.

"I didn't mean to frighten you. I'm sorry; it's just that I wanted a friend. I am so lonely out here."

"But aren't there other creatures?"

"I am not a creature, I am a dryad!" The dryad bristled. Amelia bit her lip. She looked at the ground. Now the creature was definitely going to eat her. The dryad reached for her hand. Amelia looked up.

"Would you like some tea and cookies?" The dryad's hand was still outstretched. Amelia hesitated.

"Would it help if I promise not to eat you?" Amelia nodded gratefully and took the dryads hand.

The Naiads accession out of the water was magnificent. Their ship rose out of the water with the bow exiting first, closely followed by the mast. The water parted and the _Maginogion _rose up on the water spray, coming to rest on the rapid river. A blue man slid down off the mast and down to the anchor. Barking orders as he walked around, he didn't stop to watch them being carried out. As a group dropped the golden sails, another ran to the anchor. Heaving and pushing, they managed to push it down into the water. It sank and ran across the river bend eventually coming to rest among a nestle of rocks. The blue man stood back and let it all happen.

"We are stable Captain." The blue man turned to the speaker. He was shorter and stockier than the blue man, and had a little red cap on. He was awaiting new orders, but the Captain waved him away. His spies had told him of eight children wandering in the woods, unaccompanied by adults. He smiled. This was the perfect chance to recruit some new crewmembers. He looked to the riverbank. His eyes widened. This was almost too easy. The naiads slipped into the river. Swimming easily against the current they pulled themselves onto the riverbank. There were three children sleeping, two girls and a boy. The naiads grinned at each other. Before they could step any closer, their Captain hissed. They looked to where he pointed and jumped back. The children slept within a circle of mushrooms, a fairy domain. Their Captain hissed again and walked off. He stared around the clearing. His mouth slid into a smile, this could turn to his advantage after all.

John tried to wiggle his toes. He couldn't even flex them, let alone move them up and down. He attempted to sigh but his tongue wouldn't even budge. He tried to groan, but his throat was constricted. Inside his head he screamed, he couldn't even groan! He looked around the clearing. Something was up with his sisters. Both of them were asleep on the ground. So was Oliver. John felt the need to stamp his foot. He looked over to the Old Man. That jerk was the reason they were all like this. James had the same look of frustration on his face. John made frantic eye movements at James, the Old Man was moving! The Old Man had heaved himself up and was leaning on a tree. He seemed to be staring in the direction of Elizabeth and Agnes. John turned his eyes as quickly as he could towards them. He recoiled inside. There were _blue_ things sneaking around the girls. John turned to James and saw his eyes popping out as well. These blue things stood like people but they had webbed hands and feet and seemed to have gills on the sides on their faces. But they were breathing like humans. John could see their chests heaving. His eyes darted back to the Old Man. He seemed worried. He kept looking back at his fire and then back at the blue things. John felt his heart rise in his chest as the blue things crept closer and closer to his sister. Then suddenly one of the blue things looked right at him and James. The blue thing made a high gurgling sound and Old Man flattened himself against the tree. All the blue things now stared at where the Old Man was trying to hide. The Old Man seemed to be almost sweating. Then a weird, low-pitched sound echoed through the trees. James goggled. The blue things were laughing? He glanced at John who seemed to be as puzzled as him. They both looked at the Old Man, who now looked to be very embarrassed. James would have burst out laughing, if he could. The blue things were mocking the Old Man! The Old Man scowled at the two boys. He walked up to John. John felt the same explosion inside his head. The Old Man smirked and composed himself before walking out to the Naiads. As he walked further away the fire became smaller and smaller. John focused himself on the interchange between the Old Man and blue things. While he couldn't hear anything, he could see that the blue things had some kind of power over the Old Man. He cowered as one of the blue things frowned and spoke. James was watching the fire. It had slowly become little more than a spark. James involuntarily leaned forward. Suddenly he fell flat on his face. He glanced at the Old Man. He was too far away to notice. John was concentrating too hard on the Old Man to notice he could move. James ran up to him.

"John! Let's go!" James covered John' s mouth as he whooped with delight.

"Shut up you idiot. He might hear you!" John shook himself free.

"Okay. Where do we go?" James stared at him incredulous.

"What about Elizabeth and the others?" John bit his lip. He stared at the group of blue things and the Old Man. They didn't seem to be harming the girls and Oliver. John looked around the clearing. There was nowhere to hide. The sun fell on James' face. John looked up.

"Yes." He whispered. The two boys were no amateurs in tree climbing. Even though there were no lower branches, they could still scramble up the trunk. James was faster than John and easily reached the higher limbs. The two boys sat panting on the branch. John turned to James. They both broke into smiles and laughed. They scrambled across branches and crawled across limbs to reach the neighbouring trees.

"We'll go this way. This will lead us back to nanna and pa's." James stopped before John. John looked thoughtful before answering.

"Okay. Let's hope it's the right one!" The two boys changed their stance slightly and moved forward. It was almost fun creeping around in the foliage, but John couldn't forget his sisters somewhere down below, at the mercy of the Old Man. Why had they ever come here?

Back down on the ground, the captain of the naiads smiled. The Old Man had lost his prey. Coming back to the conversation, he frowned.

"Manawydan, you are beginning to bore me. The girls and boy are mine, you have the two boys." The Old Man shook his head.

"No, no, no. You are very much mistaken Captain Teyrnon. All of the children are mine. I trapped them and led them here. It was all my work. You cannot just take these children because I have others." The Captain smirked.

"Yes well, I do not think you are very much suited to looking after children. Those two boys have escaped

from right under your nose." The Old Man spun around and shrieked. He ran down to where his fire had nearly burnt out. The Naiads stood there laughing. Oliver blinked. Why were the others so loud? He was _trying_ to sleep. Oliver sat up, ready to yell.

"Shut up! Don't you –" Oliver gulped as he realised who was standing before him. At least a dozen blue creatures were standing around him, and laughing. Now though, they were staring down at him. Oliver jumped backwards on top of Elizabeth. She immediately woke up.

"Oliver? What the – " Elizabeth had seen the naiads. She screamed and scrambled backwards as well. She turned to Agnes.

"Aggie? Wake up. Wake up, wake up." Elizabeth started shaking Agnes. She blearily opened her eyes.

"Elizabeth? Stop it."

"You're up, okay, okay. Now stand up, stand up!" Agnes pulled herself up. The naiads stood there watching. One of the cheekier naiads waved at her and she screamed. Elizabeth tried to stand as tall as she could with Oliver clinging to her on one side and Agnes on the other. The naiads had surrounded the entire ring of mushrooms. The children pressed themselves into each other. Elizabeth could feel Oliver and Aggie's hearts racing. The tallest naiad stepped forward. Elizabeth gulped. Captain Teyrnon bowed his head slightly. Elizabeth's eyes widened and she managed a sort of twitch. One of the younger naiads sniggered before being reprimanded by an older naiad. Captain Teyrnon smiled.

"Hello young girl." Elizabeth's eyes were panning the naiads. They didn't seem to be coming any closer.

"Hello." Elizabeth croaked. Agnes shivered against her and she hugged her closer.

"My name is Captain Teyrnon and I was wondering what you are doing in woods such as these?" Captain Teyrnon added a sympathetic look to his face. Elizabeth tried to relax a little.

"Um…we were just exploring, and then that Old Man," She nodded in the direction of Manawydan.

"He just started messing around and got us into all kinds of trouble." Oliver tried to redeem himself.

The naiad raised his eyebrows. Elizabeth just shrugged.

"Well my cousin Jane, she got chased off by little bee things, and then Fred went after her. So then my brothers got frozen, and then Amelia disappeared over there, and we are just standing here." Captain Teyrnon crossed his arms. So the children didn't know they were stuck in a fairy domain. His face broke into the smallest of smiles; this could work to his advantage.

"What are your names?"

"Why?" Elizabeth started to become suspicious.

"Curiosity I guess, I do want to know who I am talking to." The captain shrugged noncommittally. Elizabeth was silent for a moment, before answering.

"I guess you did tell us your name. Well…" Elizabeth tried to stall. The captain just stood patiently. Elizabeth sighed and continued.

"I'm Elizabeth, this is my sister Agnes and my cousin Oliver."

The captain nodded compassionately.

"So what are you going to do?"

Elizabeth looked thoughtful.

"Well I guess just wait for them all to come back. I mean we can't go back to our family without them."

"You have others?" Captain Teyrnon frowned.

"Why yes. Oh course." Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and started to count off her fingers.

"There are my parents, Oliver's parents, our aunties, our uncles and our grandparents. They are all back at the house." There was a disturbance among the naiads, there were too many that would miss them. They can't take them now. Captain Teyrnon silenced them with a look. He turned back to the three children.

"Well I am sorry to burst your bubble, but if you stay where you are, you will soon be in trouble as well."

"What do you mean?" Agnes, sick of hiding behind her sister, stepped forward.

Captain Teyrnon tutted and sighed. His crew laughed behind him.

"Look where you standing." The three children looked around them. Agnes frowned. There was nothing around them but mushrooms. Nothing but mushrooms…Agnes pulled down on Elizabeth's dress.

"We're in a fairy circle Elizabeth." She whispered so quietly that Elizabeth couldn't hear at first.

"What? Speak up!" Elizabeth lowered her voice at Agnes' startled face.

"C'mon. You can tell me. What is it?"

"We are in a circle of mushrooms. A fairy circle." Agnes looked around at the naiad faces scared she had gotten it wrong. Elizabeth stood up slowly. She looked at the leader. He was tall, and his eyes were very squinty. He seemed to be very proud and he had this sly look on his face. He knew, Elizabeth almost stamped her foot; he knew what trouble they were in.

"So are you going to help us or what?" That was all Captain Teyrnon needed to hear.

Fred stopped in the middle of the path, panting. Ever since he had realized that Amelia was okay and Oliver was with the people of nod, he had been chasing Jane and he was getting no where. He had followed the fork in the road and run for almost an hour now, with no sign of Jane. Fred hadn't heard her scream for a while and this had him worried. He kept walking, not wanting to lose any distance he had made. The shrubbery around him looked so innocent, there were a couple of deer, a mother and baby grazing to his left and there were little birds flitting around everywhere. Frederick was wary though. They had all thought it was all fun and nice and look where that had got them. He grimaced.

"Jane! J-a-a-a-ane!" Fred yelled as loud as his vocal chords would allow. There was no response from the wood. He heard a scampering in the bushes, but it was only the deer running away. His face fell. How would he ever find Jane? The path went on forever and ever. Fred glanced over his shoulder. He started. The path behind him had disappeared. Fred rubbed his eyes. This could not be happening. All he could do was sigh and walk on. Fred eventually came to a small pond where the water looked clear and clean. Thirsty and tired Fred took a handful and drank. He was up to his fifth when the fairies appeared. They had snuck up behind him. One of them took human form.

"Excuse me?" The deceiving fairy tapped Fred on the shoulder. He turned, half stunned, his hand still on its way to his mouth. He soon caught himself and scrambled into standing.

"Yeah? I mean yes?"

"Why are you drinking from my pond?" The fairy stood there smiling. Fredrick raised his eyebrow.

"I didn't know it was yours. If I had known, I never would have drank from it." Fredrick tried to smile back. The fairy seemed to think for a moment before answering.

"That's what they all say." From behind her a swarm of fairies flew up. Fred's eyes widened. Was this what Jane had gone through? They all came for him at once, their stingers at the ready. Fred turned and ran. He followed the path. At first it was straight and the path smooth, but suddenly curved and the ground became rougher and more uneven. Fred's legs screamed at him as he ran further and further. Suddenly Fred tripped on a loose stone and fell to the ground. The fairies were upon him. They pierced any bare skin. Fred tried to brush them away but felt himself loosing consciousness. He tried to keep running but he couldn't get up. The last thing he saw was the smiling face of the deceitful fairy smiling down on him. Fred dreamt he was still running away from the fairies but again and again they stung him, filling his veins with their hateful poison. He fell, hitting the ground hard. Fred slowly opened his eyes. Trying to forget the nightmare he gathered his surroundings. It looked like he was in some kind of subterranean cave. Stalactites hung menacingly from the ceiling. There was a constant drip coming through the roof. Fred held his head and pushed himself onto his elbows. He looked around and saw Jane on the other side of the cavern. He stumbled over, calling her name.

"Jane!" Fred shook her, but it was clear that Jane was deeply asleep, as he had surely just been. Jane stirred beside him and mumbled, but Fred ignored it. Jane always slept talked. Fred lay down beside her. There were no fairies near by, for that was surely what those things were. There was no real explanation for it, him and Jane had been abducted by fairies. How embarrassing. Fred yawned. How John and James would laugh when they heard what had happened. Fred laid his head beside Jane. The two of them would find a secret entrance or something, that's how it alway's worked wasn't it? Fred yawned again. It would all be over soon. Hopefully. Fred's eyes started to close. He forced his eyes open one more time. He made sure the image of the cave was in his head before sleeping. He laid his arm across Jane before letting the poison work again. Talia nodded and the fairies swept down onto the floor. She kept them back before she had inspected the humans. Talia moved towards the girl child. She swept the hair off her face. She was quite small compared to the male child. Talia looked thoughtful. The two children looked very similar. She raised her eyebrows. Obviously they were brother and sister. Talia nodded and a male fairy stepped forward.

"What do you think we should do with these children?"

"What we always do?" The male fairy seemed nervous. Talia bit her lip. Something was holding her back. They had a different feeling about them. She looked around at the hungry, expectant faces.

"We wait. I am still not sure." Audible sighs and disgruntled murmurs echoed around the cave. Talia held up her hand. "We wait, or we send them back out." The fairy population all whispered together and the cave roof opened. They all flew out, a magnificent sight of wings and colour. Talia sighed. She looked back down at the children. The boy was extremely tense. She frowned, but left it. At least he knew what was coming to him. She followed her brothers and sisters out of the cave and into the woods.

Dylan smiled. It was almost too easy. He studied Amelia and sighed. She didn't seem too worried about the time. Her face was lit up with delight and she was enjoying the afternoon tea. She looked up and smiled. He half smiled back, orders were orders.

"Enjoying yourself?" Dylan clenched his teeth. Don't want her to think about anything about the present. Amelia frowned.

"Well, I'm starting to worry about my brothers and my sister. What about all my cousins too? They probably don't know where I am and I don't know if they know you took me. Well Fred knows I'm in here and he said something about Jane." Amelia frowned in concentration. Dylan drummed his fingers. She looked down.

"I don't even know what's happening out there."

Dylan sighed. He didn't want to, but ever since the trees had started whispering messages, he had no choice. He sighed again. His queen was getting very narrow minded. Amelia was waiting for an answer. He looked up and smiled wanly.

"I'll get you another tea and then we'll go looking for them, okay?" Dylan tried to smile harder and this seemed to reassure Amelia. Dylan got up and poured the tea. His hand hovered over the container before he reached inside and added the most important ingredient. Placidly he returned to the table and watched as Amelia drank herself to sleep. Dylan looked up to his tree and whispered his message back.

"You know we're stuck. Why won't you just help us get out?" Elizabeth put her hands on her hips.

"Well, you see the thing is Miss Elizabeth is that we can't do that, unless we make a deal." Captain Teyrnon scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"We don't have anything to make a deal with. There's just the three of us."

The captain shook his head.

"Oh but you do. Your brothers seemed very able and I need some new additions to my crew. Find your brothers, bring them to me and we'll let you go free."

Elizabeth was quiet for a long time.

"What if I don't?"

"Well, let's just say that isn't an option." Captain Teyrnon smiled.

Elizabeth shook her head.

"Sorry, but it is. Like I would turn in my own brothers."

The naiads murmured insults towards the children.

"Quiet!" roared Captain Teyrnon. He turned back to the three children.

"It's not as if we have to rescue you, you know. The fairies would be glad of a feast." He hadn't turned half way around before Elizabeth shouted,

"Wait! What did you say about the fairies?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that they haven't had anything to feast on for a long while…" Captain Teyrnon trailed off. He shook his head and lowered his voice.

"So what's it going to be, you or your brothers?" He smiled, but Elizabeth found no comfort in it.

She sighed unhappily. She frowned. What was this? She was bargaining with some weird creature over their lives. Captain Teyrnon sensed her discomfort. He turned to his crew.

"Get my quarters ready for a meeting." Several naiads moved towards the ship.

"The rest of you, get the ship ready for departure." The rest of the naiads moved slowly towards the ship.

Captain Teyrnon turned back to the children. Elizabeth clenched her fists. The naiad stood before her,

proud and unfeeling. She looked down at her sister and cousin. They both looked back up at her,

expectantly. She sighed softly and readied herself for what was coming.


	2. Chapter 2

John and James stopped for yet another rest. They sat on the branches catching their breath. John looked around. The problem was the same as it was on the ground; the trees all looked the same. John waved his hands in front of James' face.

"Maybe it's time we started marking the trees or something."

James looked around as well.

"Maybe." He shrugged and started playing with his fingers. He looked up.

"What do you think happened to the others?" He looked back down at his hands. John shuffled uncomfortably around to James. He stared ahead at the constant trees.

"I'm sure they're fine. I mean Elizabeth is looking after them."

James snorted. John smiled and continued.

"I mean Amelia is there as well. Maybe she went after Jane with Fred. Imagine what Fred will have to listen to." James looked up and laughed.

"Yeah, imagine the complaining Jane is going to do after all this. She will be the biggest pain ever."

The brothers started laughing when they heard a rustling behind them. They couldn't turn quickly enough to see what it was. They exchanged a glance and stood up. Leaning against the branches the boys stared into the foliage. Tentatively James stepped forward. Something rustled behind him and he spun round. He thought he caught a glance of something like a small child; it didn't seem to be much taller than him. He turned to warn John, but he had disappeared. James breath escaped him. He gulped and walked towards where John had been. He looked around carefully before whispering,

"John? Where are you?" No answer came. James carefully squatted and looked down onto the forest floor. The next thing he felt was a thump on the back of his head. He tried to stop himself from falling but hands behind him caught him and hauled him across the treetop. Voices shrouded his conscious and James soon stopped hearing and seeing the trees. The sunlight seeped in. James blearily opened his eyes. He couldn't open them completely; some coarse material was tied tightly across his eyes. His throat felt constricted and dry but it hurt to swallow. The swaying motion wasn't helping either. James felt his ankles losing their feeling as the ropes cut deeper into his skin. He tried to twist into an easier position but someone hit him and he fell still. Closing his eyes again he heard the things carrying him start to talk. It sounded like a whole lot of grunting but there seemed to be some English words thrown in there as well. James suspected they were in there for his benefit, as they didn't sound promising. He fell asleep soon after from a combination of the swaying motion and the bump on his head. The next time James awoke he was untied and there was a small child's painted face stuck up into his. With the initial shock James tried to move back but found his back against a wall. He tried to hold the child's stare but it was too disturbing. After a time the child moved back and disappeared. James slid forward and tried to twist his hands free of its bonds, but to no avail. His ankles were untied so after a bit of difficulty he stood up and walked around the small cell. It was a crude building. A cage made of tree boughs and string. There was only three walls made of bars, the back wall was against a more clay like material. James stared at the area that was outside of his cage. There were other cages like his. All of them were empty except his. He looked up and there were cages hanging from the ceiling as well. He looked at the cages on the floor again and called out. John was lying down in a corner of a cage in the centre of the holding area. James looked around. There didn't seem to be any more children around. He tried to squeeze through the bars but they were too close together. He tried sucking in his stomach and he tried to go head first, leg first, bum first but none of it worked. After swearing for a bit and kicking the walls he looked back at John. He didn't seem to be hurt apart from a massive lump on the side of his head. He was deeply unconscious and it was obvious to James that he was a long way from waking up. He sat back down and leant as far forward as he could. It was time to calm down and take control. He sat up and looked around the cage again. He looked at all the sides and up and down. The string seemed to be pretty sturdy. He stood up. The branches were all different sizes and there was no real pattern to the cage walls. The boughs were all uneven and different shapes. If he undid one bough it would come down quickly. James went to start. Then he realised his hands were still tied behind his back. He groaned. What was this place? He leant against the wall. His hands rubbed themselves against the wall. It seemed to be pretty rough. His hands were ahead of his brain. By rubbing the rope against the wall, it began to fray. James started to rush thinking that the little warriors could come back at any time. James tired quickly. He peered over his shoulder. He had made little progress. He looked back over at John and set back to work. The dryad's leader watched as the young boy worked on his ropes.

"Do you want me to stop the boy, majesty?" A small man with lots of badges stood at attention before the queen. Queen Branwen shook her head. The boy interested her. He didn't seem to realise he was being watched from such a close distance but he had realised where the other boy was being kept. The queen smiled. The captain mistook it for malicious. He sniggered along. The queen turned to him, bemused.

"Well, are they are to be enlisted?" The captain seemed overly keen and this turned off the queen.

"Oh course. What other use are they?" This made the captain wring his hands in delight. He laughed under his breath and walked off. The queen sniffed and turned her attention back to the boy. She smiled contently; these boys would make fine additions to her army.

Jane woke up sweating. She gulped in the sweet, cold air. She tried to sit up but her head pounded powerfully and her lunch rose in her throat. She lay still. Heavy breathing sounded in her air. Jane jumped sideways causing her stomach to give a disturbing lurch. Fred was lying on his stomach, dead asleep. His arms and legs were stretched out in a star formation. Jane sat back down on the floor. She started to shake Fred, but to no avail. He mumbled but that was all. Jane sighed. Her eyes followed the curve of the wall as it twisted upwards towards the roof. Jane gulped and shifted closer to Fred as the stalactites shivered dangerously. Jane hugged her knees to her chest. He eyes widened as she saw the shadows appearing on the walls. She poked Fred hard in the ribs and tickled him as the shadows become larger and kept coming closer to herself and Fred. Jane finally sat on Fred who woke with a start.

"Getoff me idiot!" Fred pulled himself up and started to prepare himself to let loose when he saw Jane's terrified face.

"What? What is it?" Jane pointed at the wall. Fred frowned. The fairy people had already returned? His back tensed. Standing up and pulling Jane closer to him, Fred took a deep breath and tried to form a plan. He looked up. The stalactites moved with a subterranean breeze. Fred knew they had one chance as they shivered under the stalactites. The two fairies were meant to guarding the children but instead were walking around the cave, gossiping about the latest scandal. They were shocked to discover that the children had awoken and disappeared when they returned. They swivelled around, searching out the dark corners of the cave.

"Where could they have gone?" The stockier fairy turned to her companion. She just shrugged. They jumped when they heard the voice of the boy. Their eyes were wide as his voice reverberated around the cave.

"Oi! Over here! Come and get us little fairies!" Fred turned to Jane.

"Just yell as loud as you can!" Fred looked back over at the fairies.

"Come on you ugly jerks!" Fred laughed. Jane gulped and looked at the roof. The stalactites were trembling precariously. Looking back at the fairies slowly advancing, she took a deep breath and screamed. Her scream echoed eerily among the stalactites. The sound waves ran around the roof excitedly before rushing down the walls and into the fairies ears. The silence was deafening. The fairies paused and waited. There was nothing. Jane stood gasping beside Fred. He hugged her.

"You may just have done it!" Fred's eyes were wide with excitement. Jane shuddered. Had she done the right thing? The two fairies looked at each other suspiciously, before letting out a war-like cry and rushing towards the two children. Jane shrieked and tried to hide behind Fred. One of the fairies face was warped with passion. Fred grimaced as he saw fate befall the fairies. The stalactites on the roof shuddered one final time before falling. The fairies realised halfway across the cave. They tried to dodge and turn back, but it was too late. The stalactites fell like deadly knives. They cut the fairies into half and half again as the stalactites continued to fall. The two children cowered in their hole that was cut into the wall. Jane started to cry. Fred punched her.

"Don't sook. We did it! We can escape now." Fred patted her hair.

"Did we really have to kill the fairies?" Jane's face was flushed and her hair everywhere.

"If we want to stay alive. We had to do it. Jane, they were going to eat us!"

"I've never heard of cannibal fairies." Jane's eyes widened and she shivered. Fred shrugged.

"Oh well. We have to depend on ourselves. Just wait for all the stalactites to drop and then we'll get out of here. We have to find Amelia and Ollie." Fred looked out at the cave. The noise was gradually becoming less as the majority of the stalactites fell and it became more infrequent. The siblings sat silently next to each other, watching with awe at the chaos they had caused.

Captain Teyrnon tried to remain calm. This girl was oblivious to what was happening around her. She kept talking as if her brothers would rescue her. He smiled. How naïve. He cut off his train of thought when the girl had stopped talking.

"I understand where you are coming from, but really try and see it from my point of view."

"Yeah, well see it from _my _point of view. We can either get eaten by fairies, or you do what you do to us."

"What can I say? I am an understanding type of person–"

"If you were an understanding person we wouldn't still be stuck in here." Elizabeth crossed her arms. Captain Teyrnon raised his eyebrows. He stroked his chin and paced in front of the children.

"Okay, here it is. You are obviously feeling very vulnerable standing there. Yes?"

"Just a little." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Captain Teyrnon paused and continued.

"How about we talk about this out here? Where I am?" He swept his arms around.

"Okay." Elizabeth only thought for a second. Captain Teyrnon smiled. He beckoned the children with his index finger.

"Welcome to the crew of the –"

"What? That wasn't part– "Captain Teyrnon placed his finger on his lips.

"Hush young one. I am sure you will enjoy being part of the naiad crew." His eyes flashed.

"They will certainly enjoy some new additions." He laughed leading the three captives to his ship. As they walked up the gangplank, Agnes averted her eyes from the many that were now surveying her. The only place she could really look where she wouldn't see the creatures was the floor. She repulsed at the bones and muck on the wooden planks. She coughed as a gut wrenching smell hit her nose. Her eyes watering she let out a small cry as someone lifted her up. The hands that were holding her were rough and calloused, but gentle with Agnes. She tried to twist around to see where Elizabeth had gone but was firmly turned round the right way by her snatcher. Agnes looked out before her. The ship was massive, at least 900 metres in length. Her eyes widened as she took in the high mast and the bird's nest, a speck in the sky and all the blue things, separating and making a path for her and her carrier as they walked the length of the vessel. As they reached the end they came to an open door. Agnes was slowly lowered to the ground and softly pushed in the right direction. She gave a fearful look behind her and walked through the door. The heavy oak slammed decisively for her. Agnes crept into a beautifully furnished room. The walls had a golden wallpaper and plush carpet. Cabinets and bookshelves lined the walls, full of ancient artefacts and disturbing objects. Agnes shivered and hugged herself. She turned to the west wall where a large desk stood. Piles of books, papers and assortments of items lay haphazardly over the desk. Agnes kept turning and looking around the room recoiling at some of the things she saw. Tiring of being disgusted, Agnes sat down on the soft carpet. She played with fibres, comforted by their gentleness and immobility. Agnes waited patiently for someone to come. She got up and walked around, not quite daring to touch the things surrounding her. Agnes' heart jumped to her throat when she heard a key scraping in the door. Bowing her head slightly and cupping her hands in front of her body, Agnes prepared herself. Captain Teyrnon swept in, with a smaller creature accompanying him. Agnes stood where she was, the captain not registering her presence. The red capped creature stared at her as the captain sauntered around his quarters, lamenting about Elizabeth and Ollie.

"We need to keep an eye on those two, you never know what kind of ideas - " Captain Teyrnon was cut off by his manservant's suggestive cough.

"What is it Nisien?" The captain sounded annoyed. Nisien only had to nod his head Agnes. The captain muttered and shook his head.

"I forgot I had her sent in here." He strode over to Agnes. Lowering himself to her level, he looked her in the eye.

"Agnes? What are you doing in here?"

She swallowed and whispered, "Someone put me in here." The captain nodded slowly. He turned to his companion.

"Who would have told someone to place Agnes in my private room?" Captain Teyrnon stood up and looked down at Nisien, who stared back just as defiantly.

"It definitely wasn't me sir. I warrant it was that Crossly or Lloyd."

Captain Teyrnon held his hands below his chin. His eyes searched his room for some inspiration. Looking back down at the little red head girl he sighed. Nisien caught his eye and pulled his finger across his neck.

"I have a little job for you Agnes. I would like to sort out all of my old books from my new books. Do you think you can do that?" He made a passive smile play on Agnes. She looked at her feet. Captain Teyrnon tried to wait patiently. Agnes continued to avoid his gaze. He finally looked at the clock and sighed.

"It seems that the day has run away from us." He turned to Nisien and whispered. Agnes stole glances as she waited. Captain Teyrnon finally turned back.

"Nisien is going to take you to your quarters." He paused, waiting for a response.

"The others will be there." He watched as Nisien took the young girl's hand and walked out to the deck.

Agnes shivered in the cool night air. The blue man had a firm grip on her hand but no thoughts of escape entered her head. She was going to Elizabeth and everything would be fine. They walked a short way before coming to a trapdoor on the deck floor. Nisien stopped and knelt down, making Agnes copy him.

"Now little one, you must help me pull this door up." He waited for an affirmative nod and then showed Agnes how to grip the handle while pulling up, using her knees. Nisien counted to three and with a nod of his head, the two of them heaved the heavy door upwards. Gasping for breath, Agnes let herself be led down the stairs and into the adjoining room. To the side was a table, around which three blue creatures were sitting. Agnes shrank at their embossed armour and bejewelled swords. Their eyes burned into her back as she and Nisien walked to the door at the end of the room. Nisien examined the door. There was no handle, but a single keyhole. It sat in the middle of the door, a rectangular shape with foreign inscriptions surrounding it, the metal shining dully in the lamplight. Nisien toyed with the keys on his belt and shook his head. "Do any of you have the key for this door?" He hardly spoke above a whisper but one of the creatures walked over and wordlessly unlocked the door. Nisien nodded silently and gently pushed Agnes into the darkness beyond. She stood as still as she could as the door slammed behind her. Her skin crawled as her imagination took hold of what could be in the darkness around her. She took a tentative step forward and heard something crunch underneath her foot. Jumping back she almost cried as she heard Oliver swearing.

"Ollie? Are you in here too?" Agnes swallowed as she heard an intake of breath.

"Yeah, and so is Elizabeth. She's asleep somewhere in here. I was too before someone stepped on my hand." He smiled as Agnes started to apologise.

"Nah, it's okay. Let's try and find Elizabeth." Ollie held the back of Agnes' dress and the two of them shuffled around in the dark trying to locate Elizabeth. Eventually they did. She was curled up in a ball, fast asleep. Agnes knelt down beside her and poked her till she woke up. Elizabeth cried out in relief as she held Agnes. "Oh God, I thought something had happened to you." The three children huddled together and soon fell asleep, comforted by each other's presence.

Amelia sat up bolt right. Her eyes wide she tried to take in where she was. Jumping up she shook the bars that had suddenly surrounded her. She looked wildly around as she saw that the cage she was in wasn't the only one. She gulped as she took in the cages hanging from the roof, the hundred or so other cages which now surrounded her. The massive holding area she found herself in seemed almost to be taunting as all of the cages were empty and others were demolished. Amelia walked the perimeter of the cage. She felt like the tiger in the zoo she had seen only days before, pacing around and around. Shaking her cloudy head, she frowned. How could she have gotten here? The last thing she remembered was having tea with Dylan…she kicked out at the cage bars. How stupid of her. How completely and utterly pathetic of her. This 'dryad', this creature, had planned against her and put her in this place. She groaned and sunk to the ground. Putting her head into her hands she tried to control herself so she could try to get out. All she could of though was where she was and how she had gotten her. She shuddered as she remembered that she was all alone. Tears welled up, unwanted. Even alone, Amelia couldn't bear to think she could be seen crying. Standing up she rubbed her eyes till they felt puffy and the tears receded. She looked around the cavern again. This time she tried to take in all the finer details. Amelia jumped back and then sprang back at the bars. She flicked her hair out of her eyes and looked again. That hair, only –

"James! James!" Amelia started screaming and waving her arms. James seemed to be slumped over against the wall. At the sound of Amelia's voice, his head jerked up, this made Amelia yell louder.

"James! James over here!" Amelia felt her voice crack but it became stronger as she saw James respond.

"Amelia! How did you get here?" James had pressed himself against the bars almost as hard as Amelia had.

"I don't know. There was this creature, he called himself a dryad, I think he gave me something and then I fell asleep and I woke up here." Amelia smiled as she realised she wasn't alone anymore. James looked troubled as he looked over at a cluster of cages. Amelia followed his gaze and gasped. In the centre of a cage, John was sprawled in a tangle of legs and arms. James saw her looking and sighed unhappily.

"We've been here for ages and he still hasn't woken up." James tried to stick his head through the bars.

"Really? I don't know what the time is but it's definitely night time by now, right?" Amelia bit her lip.

James shook his bars. "Have you seen the others?" He asked anxiously.

"You're the only ones I've seen, since well, since the afternoon." Amelia shook her head

bitterly. The cousins stood silently, watching and waiting for something to happen to

them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Fred** scouted further along the corridor. He relaxed, nothing. Looking back over his shoulder he saw Jane peeking around the corner. He motioned for her to follow. She hesitated before rushing to his side.

"Okay, from now on we'll stay together. Alright?" Fred waited for a response. Jane squeezed her hands between her legs.

"I'm really cold." Jane shuddered as a cold breeze raced down the corridor. Fred tried to smile, but he too was exhausted. They had spent the night trying to find their way out of the fairy labyrinth, with no luck. The only sleep they had had was a couple of hours and it had been too stressful to replenish them.

"Yeah, well we need to keep going. Once we get out here then we can find Amelia and Ollie." Fred pulled Jane's arm and they set off. They had been running in silence for only a short time when they heard voices ahead of them. Fred tensed and pushed Jane against the wall. Motioning to her to keep quiet, he crept ahead. Peeking around the corner he saw two fairies, conversing in low tones. Creeping closer still he only stopped when he could hear what they were saying. Holding his breath, he lay on his stomach and listened.

"It's all going to come together tonight. I've heard that the naiads are going to ambush the oreads at their head camp." The taller fairy nodded his head wisely and leant forward on his sword.

"And you know the funny bit? The dryads are going to ambush the naiads at the same time." The shorter fairy shook his head.

"Ah, but have you thought of the nereids? They are the naiad's allies. These water-faring creatures seem to have a real loyalty thing going on." The taller fairy shifted position. Fred could see his face clearly now. The fairy had a squashed look to his face. His nose was the dead centre of his face, with his eyes squinting from underneath several rolls of fat. At the moment his mouth was twisted into a sort of grim smile.

"Yes, I know. And do you know what it's all about?" The tall fairy leant closer into the short fairy. He looked around before he continued in a whisper.

"Eight children wandered into the woods, yesterday I think it was. Now that oread, Manawydan, he caught all of them before anymore else knew they were about. But you know that crazy naiad Teyrnon? His crew is getting old now. He needed to recruit some new crewmembers. So what does he think to himself? He would trick old Manawydan out of his catch and then use them to man his ship." At this the short fairy looked unbelieving. "No, that can't be. I know that captain is off his nut, but using human children?" The fairy chuckled to himself as his companion tried to correct him.

"Yes! You know what kind of competition is between those two. But you know what happened? Some of the children are missing. Disappeared into the woods. Teyrnon only got three of the eight." The short fairy appeared grave at this part of the story. The tall fairy nodded superiorly.

"I know. We have two of the children," he stuck out his chest, "and there's rumours that the dryads have the other three." The short fairy went to say something when suddenly another fairy came hurtling down the corridor.

"Quickly! Quickly come this way! Intruders have entered the labyrinth near the south entrance!" The two fairies swore and ran after the messenger fairy. Fred crept quietly back to Jane. He slumped down next to her.

"What? What is it? What were they saying?" Jane looked searchingly at Fred. He just shook his head.

"No need to worry, they were just gossips. But we need to hurry, something has invaded this fairy place." Fred became silent. Jane sat impatiently next to him.

"So are we going to get going or what?" Jane waved her hands in front of Fred's face. Fred sighed and stood up. His legs trembled underneath him and his arms shook as he heaved himself up off the wall. He looked down the corridor one last time before taking Jane's hand and running deeper into the fairy realm.

They were woken before dawn. A young naiad stamped in and announced himself as Judd before starting to holler obscenities and curses at the children till they stood up. Muttering under his breath as they shuffled up the stairway to the deck, he led them to their first chore.

"Now," he yelled before them, "First you have to mop the decks. Before you mop the decks though, you have to scrub the muck off and then shovel the muck down into the chute over there." The children peered over in the direction he had pointed at, but couldn't see anything. Judd cut off their view.

"All the buckets and mops are in the closet over in the room on the west side of the deck." Again, Judd motioned in an extreme generalised direction. He stared at the children as they gave him blank looks.

"Well get to work you lot!" Judd scowled at them until Elizabeth grabbed the others and pulled them over to the area where the chute should be. Glancing back over her shoulder at Judd who was watching them, she started to whisper.

"We wont have much time together, alone, if this is anything like what it's going to be. So we need to start thinking of a plan to get out of here." Elizabeth glanced back at Judd who had started to advance over to the children.

"Quickly, move to the closet." The children scuttled over to the west side of the deck and looked for the room. Agnes soon found it and the children piled into the cupboard with Judd's eyes still upon them. Shutting the door behind them Elizabeth made them all sit down in the cramped space.

"We have to have a signal which we'll use when one of us has a chance to escape." Elizabeth squinted in the darkness. She could see Agnes' white face and Ollie's bottom lip sticking out. She smiled wanly.

"What should the signal be?" She started to make as much noise as possible, pretending to find a mop. Agnes' face lit up. "Why don't we whistle, like when we call Frankie?" Ollie snorted.

"That's way too obvious. Are there any dogs on this boat?"

Agnes stuck out her tongue and the two children started bickering. Elizabeth put up her hands.

"Guys! Guys! That's not helping at all. We can keep that in mind Agnes because it is a good idea. Do you have any ideas Oliver?" Elizabeth pulled out a scrubbing brush and listened at the door for any movement outside. She frowned; all she could hear was the waves on the side of the boat.

"Hey, do you guys hear –" Suddenly the door opened and there was Judd's leering face.

"Found anything useful in here? Good. Hurry up, you have to clean the deck before the rest of the crew is up." Grabbing Agnes and Ollie by the scruff of the neck he led them out to the centre of the deck with Elizabeth scurrying behind. He watched in amusement as the three of them tried vainly to remove the age-old muck left on the deck floor. When he was sure they were immersed in the work he walked down the stairs to the guardroom. There was nowhere for them to run and only a matter of time if they tried to hide. Elizabeth waited till he had disappeared down into the ship till she turned to the others.

"Okay this is the signal. If you know a way to escape, or can escape with the other two, or just yourself, start singing that French song we learnt last Christmas." Two blank faces met this news. Elizabeth glanced at the trapdoor. "C'mon you know it! Remember, Uncle Michael taught us!" Elizabeth became frantic as she heard footsteps on the stairs. "Remember! John made farting noises in the harmony part." Smiles spread across the two faces. Elizabeth grabbed her scrubbing brush and knelt back down, whispering,

"Remember? That's the signal!" Judd only came up the stairs enough to see the new recruits. He smiled, they were working as hard as possible he had scared them so much. Pleased with himself, he wandered back down to breakfast.

John felt the sun start to burn his skin. He opened his eyes to see a small hole in the roof allowing the sun to come down onto his face. It started to blind him and he rolled over. He groaned as he felt his ribs crack. Sitting up he yelped as he saw where he was. He rubbed his head as he realised that he was encased in a cage made of trees. Wobbling as he stood up, he reached for the bars for support. Through the thickness in his head he thought he heard someone call his name. Blearily looking around he fell back as he saw Amelia jumping around and yelling his name. He fell back further as he realised that James was also in a cage like his, but on the other side of the cavern he now found himself in. Shaking his head and standing up more confidently he started to yell back.

"Have we been here long?" He saw James shrug and look to Amelia.

"You've been here longer than I have." She yelled back. John massaged his head. It was then they heard the marching. It shook the ground and made John fall over again. All three cousins turned when they heard the two enormous doors at the end of the cavern open and in marched a small army of creatures, not unlike the one Amelia had met. As they watched open-mouthed, a small group followed, carrying a slender figure on a seat, adorned with wood flowers and berry fruits. The figure wore a crown of branches and was wearing a war like costume. She stared at the children and defiantly they stared back. James narrowed his eyes; obviously this was the person who had had them put here. She waved to her guards. Two of them went to James' cage and two more went to Amelia's cage. Roughly they undid the tree boughs making up the cages and seized the children within. The guards carried them over to John's cage and shoved them all in together. The children stood shoulder to shoulder as the queen was lowered slowly to the ground. Amelia grabbed James and John's hands as the queen glided over to them. The boys squared their shoulders as the war queen stood before them. She played with the bars imprisoning them as they watched her. Finally, she spoke. "How are you? I've been watching you and you seem to be fine." She looked up at the three children, so confident in each other's company. She smiled at how tight they held each other's hand and how the two boys hemmed in the girl. Her smile drooped. They were expecting animosity from her and her guards. Amelia saw her smile and shuddered. She was already planning how to get rid of them.

"Well, you know, as fine as you can be after being imprisoned and separated from your siblings." Amelia stared coldly at her captor. The queen wanted to shrink away but held her head higher. Amelia gripped her cousins' hands tighter. The queen seemed to be getting ready to do her will.

"I am sorry you feel this way. But I have not come to give you the privilege of my presence for any arbitrary reason. I have come to tell you some inspiring news, that you have been enlisted into the magnificent army of the dryads." The children jumped when suddenly the entire guard body stood up straighter and beat their hand to their heart, reciting, "Long live the army of the queen." Queen Branwen nodded appreciatively and turned back to the boys. They had looks of horror on their faces. "Are you for real?" The smaller boy had a smirk on his face. The queen became unsure but one look at Pryderi quelled any uncertainties. She nodded and walked back to her guards. Yells of indignation followed her.

"Get the boys ready for battle, please." She started to walk away but the guard called her back.

"What about the girl, My Majesty?" Queen Branwen looked back at the girl who was now trying to stop a guard taking one of the boys. The queen furrowed her brow; while both the boys were blonde the girl was dark. She shook her head and gave her attention back to the waiting guard.

"Keep her here." The young queen walked back to her seat. As she was hoisted up onto the shoulders of her men, she tried to ignore the desperate cries and confused yelling coming from the cage. It was for the best, she kept telling herself, her army needed as many as they could get. She couldn't forget the girl's look of disbelief and disgust at her gall of trying to be friendly after imprisoning them in that horrible room. She closed her eyes and waited to be taken back to the meeting room to ready her beautiful army for battle.

Elizabeth wiped her brow as the midday sun beat down. She looked despairingly across the deck. The captain had taken Agnes into his room and she still hadn't emerged. Ollie was over on the other side, listlessly scrubbing a stain on the deck floor. Elizabeth knelt back on her heels. The crew were still underneath, it was weird, wasn't the crew meant to be up already and sailing the ship or something. Elizabeth knocked on the wooden planks underneath her and hoped it would stay that way. She half hunched over when she saw Nisien and Judd walk across the deck to the captain's quarters. When she saw the door close she ran over to Ollie. He looked up surprised when she grabbed his arm.

"C'mon, we're going to listen to what they're talking about." The two children ran over to the window. Sitting underneath the sill, they listened hard to the voices drifting out from inside. The first voice they recognised was Captain Teyrnon's. Their eyes widened as they heard all.

"Are they camped near the north shore?" Captain Teyrnon's voice seemed low and urgent.

"Yes, only a few hundred metres from the edge. We can get our troops, plus the nereids troops into the camp relatively easily." Nisien voice drifted out of the window.

"Why is it only 'relatively' easy? I don't understand why this cannot go through without a problem." Silence greeted this. Ollie got up onto his knees and peeked into the window. He saw the three naiads crowded around a desk covered in papers. He sighed, relieved, their backs were to the window. Agnes was standing against the wall. Her eyes widened when she saw Ollie's head pop up at the window, but she forced herself to look at the ground and not give anything away. Nisien saw her and looked back at window but by that time Ollie and Elizabeth were back in their positions on the deck. Judd stalked out for a minute, watching them and their progress before returning to the captain's quarters. Elizabeth focused on the imperfection in the polish as she thought furiously. They knew where Agnes was, and everyone knew the signal. Elizabeth's scrubbing became rhythmic and her focus was centred on the stain. Ollie was the first to notice the dryads climbing aboard. He was daydreaming and staring at the other end of the deck. He saw figures slide over the side and disappear behind the tomato crates. He blinked, had something come on board? He didn't change his stance at all and watched in horror as more and more appeared. Ollie thought about what Elizabeth had said about escaping. He slowly stood up and walked to the stairway. Walking slowly down the stairs, he tried to ignore Elizabeth's shout of confusion and the surprised looks the naiads gave him. Stopping at the bottom stair he placed a finger on his lips as the naiads rushed towards him.

"Shh! No! Stop! The enemy is above us!" Ollie waited a second for his words to sink in. Elizabeth appeared at the steps and came rushing down.

"Please don't hurt him! He's only little!" Elizabeth grabbed Ollie and held him as the naiads stared on. Ollie shook her off and put his finger to his lips. Ignoring Elizabeth's bewilderment he continued.

"They are sneaking on at the south end." The naiads were still suspicious and were silent still.

"How do we know if you are not lying?" A naiad stepped forward and crossed his arms. The naiads started to agree loudly.

"Shh! Shut up! You'll let them know where you are!" Oliver sounded so desperate the naiads stopped.

"Send a scout and they'll tell you!" The naiads started to argue about who should scout when suddenly there was a whoosh! of air and the naiad who had spoken stared down at his chest. His eyes started to glaze over as he gripped the arrow in his chest. As if in slow motion, he fell backwards and lay still on the ground. Everyone jumped back in horror. A feathered arrow, the dryad trademark, was sticking out of his chest. Chaos followed. Elizabeth grabbed Oliver and ran underneath the stairs. They watched in dismay as the unprepared naiads tried to fight back as volley after volley of arrows came down below deck. As the dryads advanced down the flight of stairs the naiads increasingly became more panicked and desperate. Elizabeth and Ollie hid their faces as they saw naiad after naiad fall under the dryads' arrows. The two children pushed themselves up against the wall as a small regiment of dryads entered the plain room. The dryads spread out and methodically killed any surviving naiads. One long glance around the room and they left. As soon as Elizabeth could no longer hear their footsteps on the wooden planks she and Ollie ran up and across the deck. Elizabeth slowed down when she saw the captain's door lying on the deck. Papers were flying around in the wind and books were strewn across the deck. The cousins crept up slowly, hardly daring to breathe. As they came closer they could see the furniture upturned, their stuffing flowing out of gaping, jagged holes. Elizabeth tried to ignore the hot sensation behind her eyes. Looking in through the window no one seemed to be around. Ollie waited, watching for any sign of movement. Finally, she couldn't keep back. Ollie watched as Elizabeth crept into the captain's room. He took one last look around and followed. They stood in the middle of the room and gazed at the devastation surrounding them. Elizabeth sat down on the ripped carpet and started to cry. Ollie sat down next to her and patted her knee. He tried to come to grips with what would have happened in here. He shook his head.

"It's not fair." Elizabeth whispered. Ollie nodded and hung his head. Slowly he brought his head back up and his hoarse voice started to sing. Elizabeth listened for a moment before joining in. The two sat in the ransacked room and sang their French song. They finished the chorus when Elizabeth suddenly sat rigid. Ollie immediately tensed and listened as well. From under a pile of couches and bookcases came the small voice of Agnes. Elizabeth screamed and ran over. Ollie started to pull at the couches and soon enough Agnes stood before them. All they had time for was a hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Elizabeth squeezed Agnes.

"Girls, the way is clear. We have to go now!" Ollie waved the two girls over and ran to the edge of the ship. They moored right in the centre of the river. They gulped at the speeding rapids, but the distance was nothing. Elizabeth looked down at the two small children beside her. She only hesitated a second before nodding and the three of them dived in.


	4. Chapter 4

**Fred **and Jane ran and ran and ran. Fred forced Jane not to look back at the hordes of flying beasts appearing out of the top of the mountain. He forced her to run hunched over and to run as hard as she ever could. He forced her to lie face down in the damp undergrowth of the wood. He forced her to lie as silent as she could, not even breathe. Silent tears streamed down her face as her legs became like lead and her chest began to feel heavy like a stone. The siblings hid in hollow trees and in thorny bushes that cut their faces and forced them to bite their lips in pain as fairies swooped overhead. Fred tried to pant silently. It didn't matter what they had to go through now, they were out of that place and now they just had to find the others. He had to physically stop himself from groaning out loud. How to find the others? He felt for Jane next to him who readily grabbed his hand. They held their breath as they heard little wings beating overhead. They lay, rigid, as the small horde flew around the trees and then disappeared into the air. The brother and sister lay still for what seemed an age, before daring to move. Trying not to make a sound, they crawled out and ran harder than ever. The trees seemed to be trying to stop them, as they ran past branches whipped their faces and legs. Jane sprinted ahead of Fred and collapsed in a clearing. Her chest rose up and down and up down, her breath a wheeze. Fred crumpled down beside her. His breath matched hers and together their chests heaved. Looking at each other, Jane started to giggle. Her hysterical laughter rose above the trees and into the sky. Fred tried to quiet her but she couldn't stop.

"Fred, we made it, we made it, we got away!" Jane's laughter became higher and birds rose out of the treetops, frightened. Fred watched anxiously. Too soon, though he was laughing along. The stupid fairies, they wouldn't think to find them here. They had escaped! Fred sat up, gasping for air. Jane followed him and soon they were running again. The trees didn't seem to be as hemmed in as they had been; there was more space to run, to hold their heads high. Fred couldn't stop smiling as Jane sprinted forward and fell back, as they whooped with delight at their cleverness and ingenuity. Fred felt a familiarity as he ran among the trees. Frowning he slowed down.

"Jane! Jane slow down! Came back!" Fred felt his heart start to pound again as Jane hurried back.

"What is it? Can you hear the fairies?" Jane's anxious face peered around the surrounding undergrowth. Fred shook his head. He looked around to be sure and smiled grimly.

"Look around. Does this place feel familiar?" Fred watched Jane's face change from confusion to terror.

"This is – this is where we started…"Jane trailed off and her eyes searched between the trees. Brother and sister continued more cautiously. Too soon they came to the edge of the clearing where they had first met the Old Man. Fred and Jane huddled under the cover of trees. Their eyes hunted for any movement in the clearing and surroundings. They looked for the fire and the Old Man, but both were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly Jane gasped and pointed to the opposite side of the clearing. Three figures were emerging from the water. Soaked they tramped up the back and staggered into the clearing. Jane turned wide-eyed to Fred, who was also as unbelieving as her.

"Can it be - " Jane's voice was filled with hope. Fred shook his head.

"I don't believe it, I mean," he turned to Jane, "it has to be them, right?" Jane nodded excitedly. The two stood up together and ran across the clearing and down to the bank. Ollie was the first to hear their yells. He looked up and stopped in his tracks. Elizabeth and Agnes didn't notice till they realised he had stopped. The girls shuffled back. "What is it?" Elizabeth anxiously watched Ollie's shocked face. He rubbed his eyes and pointed. The sisters turned and watched with astonishment Fred and Jane running towards them. Jane ran straight for Ollie and caught him in a hug that nearly suffocated him. Fred sauntered up to Elizabeth and Agnes. Clapping his hands together he asked, "So where have you girls been?" Elizabeth laughed nervously. "You don't have time to know."

"Should we get under cover or something?" Agnes looked around. The children nodded and moved towards the trees. Laughing they half-ran to the cover of the trees and collapsed into sleep.

John and James trudged behind the lines of armed dryads. Their arms were weighed down with packs of rocks, ready to fire with slingshots all dryads were commissioned with. Each of them had been commissioned with one as they bow and arrow had been deemed unsafe if held by these two. James let out a soft groan, which was met by narrowed eyes from the commander.

"Keep it up soldiers, nearly at the post now." John exchanged a bleak smirk with James before staring ahead again. James tried not to look at the soldier in front of him. The solider seemed to have a weird growth on the back of his head that unnervingly looked like a spider. James thought it had moved a couple of times and he didn't feel in the least compelled to find out the truth. Instead, he looked around at the trees, the bushes, the trees, the frightened animals, the trees and look there was a clearing, that looked –

"Psst John, John!" James kept his voice low but John couldn't hear. Not wanting to attract attention by calling John he pretended to trip and fell on John. John tried to prop him up but the line kept moving regardless. James saw the commander coming down to see the problem. He quickly turned to John.

"Look around. This is where we started! Keep an eye out for the others! And the Old Man." James started to whisper more fervently as the commander closed in. "The signal is a massive whistle, you know when you use two fingers?" James waited for John to nod before straightening himself up.

"Everything okay here boys?" The commander eyed the two humans suspiciously. When he saw the fear in their eyes he softened. It was their first battle, and human skin was very weak. He smiled and walked back to the front. John and James smiled gleefully and marched back to the beginning.

Amelia sat in the middle of her cage, her head hanging forward. She hugged herself and sniffed. She would not cry it was too late for that. She looked around the cavern and found she was all alone again. Standing up she swung forward and back on the cage bars. Wiping her eyes she stopped and started to kick the cage walls, she shook the bars and tried to ram the tree boughs with her shoulders. When it all ended in her being battered and sore, she sat back down on the floor. She jumped back up when she heard someone calling her name. Peering suspiciously around the cavern her eyes couldn't pick out any abnormal shadows or figures.

"Amelia. I am sorry. I didn't mean for you to be like this." Amelia spun around in her cage, trying to find where the voice was coming from. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar someone exited the shadows.

"You. What do you want now?" Amelia crossed her arms as Dylan walked towards her cage.

"I am sorry Amelia! I didn't know they would put you here." His eyes pleaded with Amelia. She sniffed.

"Right, like you didn't think they would do something _harmful _after you drugged me." She rolled her eyes. Dylan stayed quiet. He stood watching her as dared him to say something more. After a time, Amelia became impatient. "Well? Do you want anything? I can't really do anything when I'm stuck in a cage like this." Dylan turned and walked away. Amelia dropped her arms. She was going to be here for a while now. He suddenly ran back up to the cage and started whispering to tree branches that made up the walls. Amelia walked slowly backwards to the other side of the cage, watching anxiously. She screamed as the braches suddenly started moving and separating from each other, each entwinement becoming undone and slowly dropping to the floor. Soon enough, one whole wall was lying on the floor. The unnatural procedure got to Amelia. "Stop! Please, that's enough. Thanks." She stood still in the cage, while Dylan waited on the outside. He stood silently, not knowing if what he had just done was for the best or not.

"You can leave now. No one will know you have gone till the celebrations tonight." Dylan silenced himself. The less he said the better. Amelia nodded and walked out to the open cavern floor. She looked around. "Which way is the way out?" Dylan took a deep breath.

"I can take you back to the clearing, your brothers and sister have been sighted there." Dylan saw a glimmer of joy appear on Amelia's face. It was immediately replaced by a frown.

"Will it cost me anything for you to take me there?" Amelia crossed her arms across her chest. Dylan shook his head and started to walk across the cavern floor. Amelia hesitated a second before following.

Agnes sat up suddenly. She could have sworn the ground was shaking a second ago. She shook Elizabeth.

"What? Do you have to wake me up?" Elizabeth blearily looked around; they were still safe hidden under the bushes. They were right next to the clearing, so there was no chance of missing the boys or Amelia.

I thought I felt the ground shaking." Agnes placed her palms flat to the ground. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and turned back over. As she closed her eyes she felt a vibration go through her body. Sitting up she turned to Agnes, "Okay so I believe you now. Wake the others. We have to go further undercover." Quietly the others were woken and the frightened children peered through the branches of their hiding spot. Jane gripped Ollie's hand as they saw line after line of green creatures march into the clearing. They held oaken bows and arrows and wore no armour apart from a chest plate. Elizabeth pulled Agnes closer as even more armed creatures entered the clearing. As the girls watched Fred scuttled as quietly as possible to the girls.

"Hey, look down into the middle of the pack. Do you see two blonde heads?" Fred grinned as the girls tried to control their joy. John and James looked exhausted and were carrying huge packs, but they were alive! The cousins lay down on their stomachs and held a meeting of sorts.

"Okay we need a signal that they will know but will be inconspicuous." Fred whispered fervently.

"What does inconspicucous mean?" Ollie's tongue tried to find its way around it. Agnes rolled her eyes.

"It's inconspicuous and it means it won't be noticeable. Duh." Agnes smiled smugly as Fred nodded.

"Anyways, what can do that won't raise an alarm or anything?" The five children lay in silence. Jane looked up. "Anyone got anything?"

"No."

"Nope."

"Nothing."

"This isn't working!" Fred hit the ground with his fists. The children didn't know that they wouldn't need a signal before long.

John and James stooped in their line as the commander went off into another tangent about the filthy oreads, the despicable oreads and the relentless oreads who would kill them in an instant. John caught James' eye and rolled his eyes at the commander. James nodded and smirked. The commander strolled up to the boys. "Do you think this is a game? Do you think the oreads are to be trifled with? Do you think…"

James saw John get his bored look and also allowed his eyes to glaze over. Finally the commander screamed at them to strike camp. Thankful, the brothers marched over to a spot and dumped their bags of rocks on the ground. Sitting down the massaged their legs and arms. They stopped laughing when an older dryad wandered up to them.

"Hello boys." They answered with a nod. The dryad seemed pleased with this response. He leaned in.

"How do you like the commander over there?" John glanced at James who shrugged. The dryad squatted next to them. He started to whisper.

"Well, there's a group of us who want him out. Care to join?" The dryad winked and sat back on his heels. James remembered all the cutthroat antics and rants and he nodded at the dryad. John wasn't so sure.

"What will happen if he doesn't give up?" John watched the dryad stroke his chin. John frowned.

"What's your name anyways?" At this the dryad started. He wagged his finger at John.  
"You have to earn that knowledge. Now little one, come with me and meet the others." The dryad stood up and didn't wait for James to follow.

"James! What do you thin you're doing? You're following some mad old dryad!" James was watching the dryad's progress through the crowd. He grunted and looked back at John.

"Yeah, well he annoys me to no end. Give the lecture a break, they're for Amelia to distribute." He hurried off. John watched him struggle through the crowd and enter a tent that had been erected rather quickly. He frowned and turned to his bags of rocks. He'd show that stupid dryad.

Amelia stuck to the shadows. Dylan was only a little way ahead and she still wasn't sure whether he was for real or not. She ran when she him signal and stood breathless beside him as he searched the forest in front of them.

"We are nearly there I think." Dylan looked up in the tree foliage and frowned. Amelia watched with anticipation.

"What is it?" She saw Dylan shake himself. He turned to her, his face expressionless.

"The trees tell me that there is a small dryad army stationed at the clearing where we are heading." He sighed and walked on. Amelia hurried beside him. The sunlight filtered down through the trees lighting up the path, making false appearances. Amelia's chest relaxed when she the familiar trees and the path again became smooth and slightly curvy. Dylan turned to her and placed his finger upon his lips. Amelia nodded obediently and crept forward. The two of them took a wide berth in case of sentries and were soon behind Dylan's tree. Amelia watched with horror at the small-armed mass spread over the clearing. She looked for John and James but even their lightness she could not find. Amelia felt a chill roll down her spine and a scream half rise in her throat as a hand covered her mouth. Her legs froze and grounded themselves as the hand squashed her mouth.

"Shut up you idiot. It's just me." Amelia's entire body fell apart as she heard Fred's voice in her ear. He released his hand and Amelia spun around. Tears pricked her eyes; she grabbed his hand and slapped him with it.

"You are so stupid." Amelia made him slap himself again and went to turn to Dylan. She looked the other way. She shrugged, he was gone and she was with the others now. She followed Fred into the undergrowth with Dylan watching over them.


	5. Chapter 5

John crept around the perimeter of the camp. He kept his eyes on his destination, the green and blue tent that James had let himself be led to. Pausing he tried to assess the best way of entering. He decided on going through the back flap. Hurrying now he lay on his stomach and slithered into the tent. He found himself under a table, which was buckling under the pressure of several large books and maps. There weren't many dryads in the near vicinity of the table so John allowed himself a few moments to assess. He soon found James. He was sitting at a table with the dryad who had led him away. John couldn't believe his luck he had a clear shot. Allowing himself a small smile he brought himself to his knees and took aim. Holding his breath he let go and the rock spun crazily through the air. John watched anxiously as it started to veer off course and head straight for James. John crawled back under the table as the rock hit James straight in the face. Falling off his chair, the dryads looked on in horror as James writhed and groaned on the floor. The dryads sat shocked as James started to wail in pain. One dryad looked around and panicked.

"The oreads are attacking!" Chaos ensued. The dryads ran out of tent screaming for the camp to ready itself. John couldn't see James as the dryads ran over him heading for the nearest exit. Once the tent had emptied John ran over. He rolled James over. His eye was a bloody mess. It had swelled to the size of an orange and was half closed, the skin was grazed a deep purple and his pupil wasn't moving.

"John? What the hell did you do that for?" James' voice was angry and upset. John shook his head and pulled James to his feet. Holding him up with his arm they walked to the entrance. Peeking his head out he saw the camp rushing around, totally unaware of the both of them. John led James to the undergrowth and under the cover of the trees started to walk around the perimeter of the clearing. James soon shook himself free of John's arm. Pressing his eye gently he recoiled in pain. Tears slowly seeped out of his eyes and down his cheeks. John held out his hand but it was slapped away. James hurried forward but stopped a short ahead. "Where are we going anyways?" James' voice sounded low and gruff to John.

"To where that Old Man tricked us." John stopped in front of James. "It's only a short way ahead. We can make it." He placed it on James' shoulder but he shook it off and furiously walked off. John ran to catch up. The boys ended up running the remainder of the way. Paranoid and over protective of each other, the kept hearing unknown sounds and the ground vibrated from, presumedly, marching feet. Soon enough they found themselves close to where they had all gotten separated. James stopped and John caught up.

"How do we know if the others will think to come here?" James stared at the ground. John sighed.

"I don't know. I don't know if they will even still be here, or if they were captured as well." John pulled his hand through his hair and looked at the surrounding bushes. He stared into a nearby bush and was met by a sea of eyes. Yelling and jumping back he felt his heart fall into his stomach as this was received by laughter. James' face broke into a smile and he started to laugh as well. John stood there incredulous as his sisters and cousins emerged from the bush. He started to laugh along and for a moment it was everything was fine. Agnes was the first to stop laughing and notice they were being watched. She pulled on Elizabeth's dress hysterically crying. The children instinctively pressed themselves together as Queen Branwen and her guards stood before them. She tried to make herself taller as the dark girl stared scornfully back at her.

"Hello children." Queen Branwen smiled sadly. She didn't want to break them up, but it couldn't be helped. She watched as the children made a tighter pack. Pryderi looked pointedly at her but she shook her head. Let them have a few moments peace, she thought.

"Boys, it's time you returned to the army. And your cousins can join with you, so some of you will be together still. " Queen Branwen closed her eyes as the girls started to yell.

"What is this place that enlists children into the army?" The dark girl voiced her opinion the loudest. Queen Branwen held her gaze before she broke it off to speak to her guards.

"Prepare to take them away." Queen Branwen felt sick in her stomach as the guards nodded and tensed. Amelia noticed and tried to stall. Stepping forward she walked right up to the dryad queen.

"You can't take them away, you can't force them to fight for your…cause, whatever it is." Amelia tried to fathom what was going on in the small queen's head. The queen's head drooped. Two guards grabbed Amelia by the arms and started to lead her away. The children started to yell and more guards stepped forward. Queen Branwen turned away and tried to ignore it, but it became too much.

"No, don't. I don't want to put them through any more." The guards hesitated, unsure of what was meant to happen. Out of the trees a stooped figure emerged.

"It's okay, I will take them." Queen Branwen saw the children recoil and Amelia hurtle back to the group as the oread Manawydan rubbed his hands together and watched the children intensely. Queen Branwen coughed nervously. "I'm not so sure they are for the taking Manawydan." The oread turned to the fragile queen. He smiled grotesquely. "Ah, Your Majesty. Oh course they are meant to be taken. They came into our woods and disturbed the peace, I will make sure they are adequately punished." A shiver ran down Queen Branwen's spine. She shook her head firmly. Turning back to Pryderi she issued orders.

"Take the children back to the border and see them safely across." She smiled sadly at the children and Pryderi went to walk off. Manawydan cut them off. His face was a bright red colour and his mouth was set in a scowl.

"These are my children, Your Majesty," he said through gritted teeth. "I will not have them sent out of here like it is alright for them to walk in and out of here any time they want." The queen cowered under his gaze but her guards were already walking briskly away with the children. She shook her head again and started to walk around Manawydan. He let out a howl of frustration and stalked after the children and the guards.

The guards noticed and started to lead the children away faster. Jane pulled on one of their arms.

"How far is it to the edge of the forest?" The guard looked surprised but answered almost immediately.

"We know some short cuts so it is only a short, short way." Jane looked back at the Old Man advancing quickly. "What about the Old Man? He will catch us!" The guard conferred with the others and the group started running. Manawydan matched their speed. His grip missed Agnes' dress. John kicked his legs and left Manawydan howling in the middle of the path. Agnes held onto John's hand as they raced to catch up with the group. The guards suddenly stopped and spoke quickly to the children.

"Manawydan is a very powerful oread, we must set an ambush for him in order for you to escape safely." The children swallowed their fear and nodded. The guards hid the children among the bushes and then jumped up into the trees. Manawydan soon came hurling down the path. He slowed down and sniffed the air. Approaching more cautiously he walked into the ambush unknowingly. When he had passed the first five guards and was halfway between the next set of guards, they all dropped down and started to fire arrows at him. A dryad veered off the path, holding his head while Manawydan tried to stop the arrows from finding his heart. He concentrated so much on the guards that Fred crept up to the road, and taking the lost dryad's bow and arrow fired a shot directly into his heart. Shrieking, Manawydan turned to deal a blow to Fred but was knocked out by a shot from John's slingshot. The children looked at Manawydan's body with a mixture of disgust and relief. The guards shook their heads and hurried the children on. It was half way through the afternoon when the river became a creek and the little birds returned. Still the children staggered on. Suddenly the guards stopped and saluted the children. The children gave them blank looks.

"This is where we leave you." Pryderi nodded where the trees stopped and the manicured lawns began. The children laughed and smiled before looking at themselves.

"We look like we've dragged through the woods!" Jane exclaimed. Twisting around she took in the state of her dress and hair. The guards sniggered and smirked.

"It's alright children. The woods and your world work on different time. You will get back to your house and it will be like you just left." Pryderi nodded again and the guards marched off.

"Yeah, that's great, but what about my dress?" Jane yelled after them. Shaking her head as they walked off the children stood still.

"This is it, we're home…"Amelia whispered. She looked back at the woods and shook her head. Turning back she also took in the state of her dress and hair. She sighed, mother would not be happy. She walked out of the wood and stopped as Jane screamed.

"What? What is it?" Amelia turned back frightened to her sister. All of her cousins and siblings were staring shocked at her. Amelia hugged herself and jumped as she felt the sleeve of her dress. She looked down and saw all the stitching and hemming back to perfection. Tentatively she felt her hair and it was once again in the tight bun. Screaming with joy she saw the others run through the border and their clothes became again what they once were. James tentatively put pressure on his eye and whooped with delight as he could once again open and close. The children stood still as they heard sounds coming from the woods. Not waiting to hear what it was, they ran back up to the house. Totally forgetting what the guards had told they fell into the house and running through the rooms they piled into the dining room. Huddling together and panting, they stared relieved at their parents shocked faces. Jessica had the salad bowl halfway in the air and annoyed she put it back on the table.

"Parkers! What do you think you are doing? Get back outside!" Scowling she went back to her lunch.

"But we've been away for a whole night mum!" Agnes blurted out. Her father turned good-naturedly to the children. "Games stay outside guys. Now c'mon, go back to the kitchen. Martha will be happy to serve you dessert." The adults turned back to their conversation. Caroline waved them away and Jonathon gave them a look before returning to his lunch. Amelia pulled on Fred's arm and muttered a communal come on and the children returned to the orchard. The sat in a circle, with Jane flicking tree seeds at Agnes and the rest of the children sat sullenly. Elizabeth looked up.

"It was real, wasn't it? I mean, we did sleep in that room, and we did see all those creatures, didn't we?" The group all nodded and sighed simultaneously. John turned to James.

"Hey is your eye okay?" James nodded and punched John in the arm, he shrugged they were at a truce. Fred stood up and looked over at the woods. A flock of birds erupted from the treetops as if frightened by an army. He kicked the dirt and walked a short way off. Instinctively the rest of the children followed. They walked back down to the border and stared into the woods. Experimentally John put his arm through the border. Nothing happened.

"The guards did say that time wouldn't have moved forward at all." Oliver stated. The children trudged back up to the house. The maid Martha stuck her head out of the side door.

"Masters and Misses, your families are ready to go now." She disappeared quickly and

the children were left by themselves again. They looked at each other and nodded. It

didn't matter that their parents didn't believe them, and the servants thought they were

weird, and they had ruined their clothes, been kidnapped, injured each other and nearly

died, it had happened and only they needed to know, really.


End file.
